Winds of Nostalgia
by you taryn at six
Summary: Lori Winston's had a rough life, what with growing up with a non-supportive parent on the tough streets of New York City. When she goes to spend time with her aunt in Tulsa, she gets a surprise that wasn't expected. Running into Dallas Winston.
1. Idea

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _The Outsiders_, but the characters you don't recognize.

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**Idea**

_New York City, 1965._

People always told her that laughter is the best medicine, but at the moment, the light bursts of giggles from the uniformed cheerleaders in the corner made Lori's head throb with annoyance.

Her pale, blue eyes narrowed at the slowly ticking clock. It was only the first ten minutes of class, and these stupid paper shakers were already pushing her buttons. Doris, her best friend, picked the wrong fucking day to be absent.

She wished she would've gone with Annette Lane and ditched this hellhole, but no – Peggy threatened to lock her in the bedroom without food or water the next time she'd decide to miss any school. Her mother's face looked so serious when she said that, so she vowed to never skip anytime soon.

Lori softly tapped her pencil against the desk out of boredom. Ms. Michaels was busy blabbing something about – yeah, she didn't even know. At least she'd gotten the cheerleaders to stop their bothersome guffaw.

A large, rough hand landed on top of hers. Jimmy Wells, a cocky rich kid, was glaring at her.

"Stop tapping that damn pencil, will you?" Even though he was whispering, his voice was still harsh.

She snatched away her hand that was still beneath his. "What're you gonna' do? And don't touch me." She glared right back.

She wasn't in the least scared that Jimmy would lay a hand on her again. Even though he was filthy rich and a jerk, he's not the type to hit girls – or even get others to do it. That's why Lori found it amusing to test him.

He sneered at her and focused on a yapping Ms. Michaels at the board. _Candyass_, Lori inwardly smirked.

She glanced at the clock again. Damn. Why did time have to go by so fucking slow? She wanted to get out of this shitty, confined place. She couldn't really stand being cooped up for so long; it was the same way at home.

"… so, I want you to choose a topic," Ms. Michaels folded her hands on her desk. "About a place you'd like to visit, about your personal life, anything you please."

Lori sat dumbfounded. She wasn't a very good writer, unlike the other people in her class. She didn't even know what she could write about, her life wasn't so fascinating. If anything, it'd make her teacher frown and treat her with pity. She scoffed, because she sure did hate pity.

"You have the rest of class to finish your chosen topic. Oh, and at least three paragraphs," Ms. Michaels continued, and focused her attention on a stupid looking book in front of her.

Lori peeked out the corner of her eye; Jimmy was already writing. As was everyone else, actually.

She glowered at the lined paper and picked up her pencil. She wrote her name first, and whatever came to her mind – which was a lot of things.

_Lori Winston_

_Sometimes, I get jealous of other peoples lives. My mom always told me that life wasn't fair. Why couldn't I grow up with a loving father? Why did I have to ask, "Where's daddy" almost every day of my life? She was right, life isn't fair, but we have to deal with what we have. People are incapable of planning how they want their lives to go, or what occurs in their lives for that matter._

_Sometimes, I feel like breaking down and crying. My mom always told me I didn't have to act tough, that it was okay to cry every once in a while. I'd cry because my old man left us. I'd cry because I haven't seen my brother since I was eight or nine years old. I'd cry whenever my ex best friend made fun of me behind my back. She was right; you don't have to be strong for everyone all the time._

_Sometimes, I just wish the world was perfect – my life was perfect. Everyone could just be happy and safe walking on the hectic sidewalks home from school, kids would have two parents to support them, crimes wouldn't exist, the only thing in the paper would be about singers and movies._

_Whether we want it to or not - life isn't perfect, neither am I, or anyone else. Never will be. _

Satisfied with finishing, Lori leaned back against her seat. She was never one for expressing her feelings in stories, made her feel too damn sappy. She looked at the clock for the third time that day. Class would be over in a matter of seconds.

Ms. Michaels looked up from her book, and pushed the glasses that had fallen on the bridge of her nose to her eyes.

"Okay, class," she stood and propped open the door. "Get your things together and hand in your assignment as you walk out the door."

Chatting and laughter filled the classroom as students began to gather their books. The day was finally over.

She picked up her books and headed for the door, waiting impatiently behind Gloria Phillips as she turned in her paper.

"Thank you, Gloria," Ms. Michaels smiled at her, crinkles forming beside her eyes.

Lori walked up next and gave the teacher her paper. She prayed Ms. Michaels didn't say anything about it right there. Lori knew it wasn't the best paper, but at least she tried really hard this time (she'd had a record for turning in blank papers in the past).

She could tell Ms. Michaels tried to not show any of her shock when she shoved the paper in her hand.

Ms. Michaels scanned over the paper approvingly. "Thank you, Lori." She actually smiled at Lori for once, instead of that stupid I'm-so-disappointed-in-you- look.

Lori walked out of the classroom and rolled her eyes. "Hate school," she muttered and began walking out the front doors after she chucked her stuff in her locker.

"There you are," a loud voice said as soon as she leisurely walked out. She wheeled around to see her ride home.

"Christine, hey," Lori grinned. "Didn't see you there." She strolled towards her.

Christine rolled her brown eyes. "You never see me here," she said and tucked her stringy, black hair behind her ear. "Ready to leave this place?"

"You hafta ask?" Lori widened her eyes in fake shock at her friend. "Seriously, I'm ready to cut out. I just wanna' go home and fucking sleep."

"Alright, lets go," Christine laughed and guided her to the parked car. "I'm worn-out too."

Lori climbed into the front, and Christine followed by sitting at the wheel.

"Did you hear about Shelly Walters?" Christine started her daily gossip as she peeled out of the school's parking lot and down the street.

Lori looked out the tinted window, not in the least interested by the topic. "She's PG, right?"

Christine nodded frantically. Glory, could this girl talk too. "Yeah, by Brett Douglas. I heard it was at a party couple'a days ago."

Lori shook her head and sighed. Shelly Walters was no older than seventeen years old, and a guy she hardly even knew had knocked her up. A simple one night of fun left the poor girl with a child. But that's what you get, right?

"What a shame," she muttered monotonously, still staring out the window.

"Sure is," Christine agreed quietly, almost inaudible. She turned the radio on to fill the awkward silence, and Elvis Presley's voice hummed through the car.

"Thanks for the ride," she said, glad she didn't live too far from the school. Christine pulled into her driveway.

"Yeah, yeah," she grinned, her brown eyes sparkling. "Just get outta' my car, will you? I've got places to be."

Rolling her eyes, she got out of the car and walked up the front stoop. Two honks let her know that Christine had left and was driving down the street again.

"Fuck," she glared at her jacket pocket. She dug into the pocket once more just to be sure. Damn key still wasn't in there.

Already knowing the door would be locked, she banged on the door with her fists.

"Mom, open the door. Mom!"

She could hear the locks being undone. The door swung open revealing a very irritated looking Peggy.

"What the hell," she coughed through the cigarette dangling from her red lips. "What the hell are you banging on my goddamn door for?"

She rolled her eyes at her repulsive mother. "I forgot my key!"

Peggy opened the door wider and scowled at her. "You always forget your key, next time you're gonna' be spending the night on the street, huh?" She side stepped out of the way.

"No," she said flatly and walked down the hall to her room, being sure to slam the door once inside.

Peggy didn't always use to act like that. She used to be well-mannered, kind, pretty, and actually motherly. Lori thought that maybe her dad had made Peggy the bitter way she was now. Seemed pretty reasonable. After all, the guy did take her only son from her and moved to lord knows where. Still, you shouldn't treat other people like shit because of what happened to you.

She groaned and sat on her bed, paying no attention to the creaking bedsprings. After a few moments of staring at the ceiling, a crazy idea popped into her head.

She was gonna' ditch this jungle of a city. Move to somewhere smaller, where things would be quieter, safe even.

"Mom," she called opening her door and walking to where Peggy was seated on the sofa. "I needa' ask you something."

Peggy still sat there like a bum on a log. Her eyes were narrowed at the television, and the same cigarette hanging from her lips.

"Where does Aunt Rebecca live?"

That got her attention.

"The hell do you want to know for, kid?" Peggy turned towards her, scowling.

Lori shrank back at her tone, but only a little.

"I… just wanted to spend time with my favorite aunt," she shrugged, but inside, her heart was pounding at an unbelievably fast pace. "And, tomorrow's the last day of school. So it works out just fine."

"I'm not driving you," Peggy glared.

"Train," Lori said. "I can take a train, or, uh, something." And for a second, she could see something flicker behind Peggy's brown eyes.

She turned back to the television. "Tulsa," she nodded, putting out her cigarette. "Oklahoma."

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A/N: **I'm not the best writer, but honestly, I think I'm getting a little better. FanFiction is just practice for me 'till I go big. So, what'd you think? (Next chapter will be slightly better, promise.)** Oh, and you know - I was going to do a Curtis sister fic, but there was already a good one. And a good Two-Bit sister fic too. So, I'm all... why not a Winston sister? Haven't seen a non-Mary Sue story of that. Cheers to my first _Outsiders_ fic! (:


	2. Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own _The Outsiders_, but the characters you don't recognize. It's late at night, so there may be a few errors that I didn't catch on my read through. My apologies, or condolences; whichever you prefer.

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**Reunion**

_Tulsa, Oklahoma - 1965. (Summer)_**  
**

Lori was definitely not a hugger; she just didn't like any physical, mushy contact from other people (with the exception of boys, of course). Though, she had to admit, hugging definitely beat the pinching of her "chubby" cheeks and the ruffling of her hair any day.

Aunt Rebecca finally let go from her tight embrace on Lori. For such a scrawny woman, she sure had a mean grip.

"Oh, Lori, you've gotten so pretty! What on earth took you so long to come'n visit me? My, have you grown since the last I seen you," she rambled on while Lori tuned her out.

_Sure hope you're not like this everyday_, she thought to herself and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She distinctly remembered her aunt being the non-talk you to death type. Guess she changed over the years, which was pretty unfortunate for her.

Aunt Rebecca fervently snatched the bags from her arms.

"Don't you worry about these, I'll just set them in your room," she grinned. "Why don't you sit down? Make yourself comfortable, we'll go tour the town in a few." She disappeared upstairs without an answer.

"Alrighty, then," Lori shrugged to no one in particular.

She walked around the small room, just taking everything in. This is where she'd be staying all summer. For the first time in her life, she wouldn't be in New York City getting into trouble with Doris or Lisa, or even having to put up with Peggy's annoying mood swings. Instead, she was in a quiet neighborhood with her aunt she hadn't seen in ages.

"I've got a lot planned for us."

Lori nearly screamed at the sudden voice. She whirled around to see her aunt appear from behind the wall. "Oh, yeah?"

Aunt Rebecca smiled and nodded, "yeah. First, we'll grab something to eat at the diner, then I'll give you a little tour – show all the nifty hangouts. Sound good?"

Did she really just say "nifty?" How -

Her stomach rumbled a little, cutting short her meaningless thoughts. She hadn't eaten since she'd left home and was (obviously) starving. "Sounds good to me."

XXX

"So, what's there to do 'round here?" Lori downed some of her coke and squirmed in her seat. They were seated in a booth at the little diner across the street – Bertha's Breakfast (even though it was sometime in the evening, they were in the mood for breakfast).

Aunt Rebecca finished her forkful of scrambled eggs before responding. "Well, there's always the movies." Lori made a face at that, but Aunt Rebecca continued on as if she didn't see it. "And parties, which you will ask for my permission to attend, and bowling – just different little things. I'm sure once you make friends you'll find something to do."

Lori sighed. "Right, friends – didn't think of that," her shoulders slumped a little at the thought of her friends back in New York.

"What?" Aunt Rebecca looked at her as if she had two heads. "You're worried about making friends?"

She mumbled something incoherent. Supposedly, she wasn't the best at making friends; her attitude always seemed to get in the way. Peggy's words, not hers.

"Look, here come some friendly looking girls now," Aunt Rebecca looked towards the diner's front doors. Lori looked too.

Was her aunt fucking blind? She had to be. These girls looked anything but friendly. If you said the wrong word to them, they'd probably claw your eyes out with their sharp ass nails.

A blond with make-up caked all over her face glared and raised her upper lip at her, as if to say, "What're you looking at?"

Lori turned back around to face her aunt. "Oh, yeah, they look real pleasant," she said sarcastically.

Aunt Rebecca gave her a look of disappointment. "You shouldn't judge people, honey. It's rude," she attentively patted Lori's hand. She stopped herself from snatching her hand away.

_Is she fucking serious right now?_ She thought, annoyed. Aunt Rebecca had definitely changed over the years – she used to act like a fun, teenage girl, but now she's matured - an adult. She almost rolled her eyes at the thought. People could be so confusing.

"Right, sorry," she said instead. "I'll be...I'll be right back." She up and just about ran to the bathroom before her aunt could retort.

There, she stole a glance at her reflection for the first time since she'd arrived.

Bags from lack of sleep were slightly visible beneath her lower eyelids, and strands of her long, whiteish-blond hair was falling out of her poor excuse of a side ponytail. The maroon ribbon she had for quite a few years was slightly turned – lopsided, and her blue eyes looked paler than ever, as did her skin. All in all, she looked a mess.

"I can't believe I walked out of the house like this," she groaned then slapped her forehead and began to fix her hair.

She could hear high-pitched voices outside of the door, even before the trio burst inside and continued their conversation obnoxiously. She obviously didn't know them, but the one she actually recognized was the pretty blond that glared at her. The bitch was lucky her aunt was at the table, or she would've received the bird. They didn't seem to notice her – not yet, anyway.

She straightened her ribbon, eyes still fixated on the mirror in front of her. When the smell of smoke spilled through the washroom, she couldn't help but to cough from inhaling it. She quickly fanned in front of her face.

Smoke wasn't something she was a fan of. Peggy smoked almost every day, so she was absolutely disgusted by the vile smell. She swore to never pick up a cigarette anytime soon.

The blond leaned against the wall. "You new here, girl? Never seen you," she said with a blank look.

Inhale. Exhale. Disgusting smell.

Lori glared at the girl with distaste. "Lori. My name's Lori, not 'girl'," she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

The blond narrowed her eyes and arched an eyebrow with expertise. "I didn't ask for your name – girl. Are you new here?" She spoke to Lori as if she were stupid by saying the words slowly.

The two others from the trio giggled noisily. She glared at them. "Leave her alone, Sylvia," the tall brunette said, but she didn't really sound like she wanted "Sylvia" to stop anytime soon.

The one with the jet-black, curly hair, and the amused look on her face remained silent. Well, fuck her, then. At least the brunette stood up for her, even though she didn't sound completely sincere when doing so.

Sylvia didn't take her eyes off of Lori, a tiny smirk playing on her lips. Then she inhaled.

"I'm just staying for the summer, _if_ you must know," Lori said, being sure to add some attitude in her tone. She washed her hands. These girls were not about to try and make a fool of her on the first day. "Take your fucking nose outta' my business," she rolled her eyes.

Exhale. Then, of course, the disgusting smell hit her nose again. Goddamn. She wanted to beat it out of there, but she also didn't want to seem like a coward by looking like she was running away.

"I'm Evie Winters," the tall brunette spoke, breaking the tension that filled the room. Lori stared blankly at her, for she didn't recall asking for anybody's name. "And this," she jabbed her thumb at the girl with the curly hair, "is Angela Shepard. And that's -"

Sylvia waved Evie off as if she didn't need an introduction. She blew smoke ringlets in Lori's face. _How considerate of you_, Lori scrunched her face in disgust.

"I'd say it was a pleasure meeting you all, but then I'd be lyin'," Lori grinned, dried her hands, and walked out without another remark. Fuck looking like a coward, she couldn't stand the smell of that damned cigarette anymore.

She slid back into the booth where Aunt Rebecca was just putting out some money. "Sorry I took so long," Lori apologized with a tiny shrug.

Aunt Rebecca's head snapped up. "Oh, it's fine honey, no problem at all," she grinned. "Tell you what, how about I give you that tour now, huh?"

"Sure," she nodded. She just wanted to get the hell outta this diner.

"Let's get out of here, kid," Aunt Rebecca headed for the door and Lori followed. She was just walking out the door, when she saw a younger boy watching her. They made eye contact, and the boy turned away, ears red.

She shrugged it off. Little kids could be so fucking strange sometimes.

XXX

"The Dingo," Aunt Rebecca pointed across the street from inside the car. "S'where a lot of kids your age hang out. I don't go there anymore."

They'd been riding in the car for what seemed like forever. Aunt Rebecca, pointing out all the cool hangouts, and Lori looking in wonder with the occasional "wow."

"That it?" Lori asked, looking out the window admirably. "That's all there is, I mean?"

What the hell was she supposed to do all summer with just those few places they'd seen? Yeah, sure, all the cool hangouts seemed fun and all, but she didn't even have any friends here.

"Well," Aunt Rebecca stole a glance at her from where her eyes where on the road. "The fair should be comin' up pretty soon, just to warn you. I'd suggest makin' some friends and real quick, too."

She groaned and mumbled something illogical. Aunt Rebecca cracked a grin at her and playfully shoved her shoulder.

"You'll be just fine, kiddo. I promise."

When they got home, Lori fell like a sack of potatoes onto her bed. Tired would be an understatement as to how she felt right now.

She turned the lamp out, not bothering to change into any pajamas. The only thing she was actually capable of doing at the moment was removing her shoes.

She wondered how Peggy was doing without her. After all, she wouldn't be going to fetch cigarettes from around the corner anymore, or even get her favorite milk from Richard's Market - a grocery store not even close to them.

What was that glint behind Peggy's eyes when she announced she wanted to visit her aunt? Was it regret? Did the repulsive, uncouth woman finally see something wrong for once in her life?

Shit. Why the hell was she even worrying over something so stupid? It didn't matter though, because she was in Tulsa now. Not in New York with her oblivious mother.

A dreamless sleep finally welcomed her, saving her from her pointlessly, annoying thoughts.

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**A/N: _Here it is. _**  
***You have no idea how many times I've erased and re-written this chapter - three times at the most. First, she had a cousin, but then I decided against that. I'mma still be honest; I hated the ending. What kind of an author am I to think of such horrible ending point? ;\** bleh, dfh;auhgamgj.  
*A visit from our favorite greaser girls, eh? I bet you were expecting one of them to be Sandy. ;D Well, it orig. was, but I couldn't put sweet ol' Sandy as the mean girl, huh? In the book, it said she wasn't like other greaser girls. There you go.  
_P.S.*Please don't grill me on the smoking scene. I'm not that educated in cigar's (-_- wtfbro), being that I'm sixteen and haven't even touched one in my lifetime (nor do I plan to)_.

**REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. Six reviews and a couple favs on my first chp. was outstanding guys, so thank you. Let's do it again(;**  
-Taryn


	3. Red Ears

Disclaimer: _The Outsiders _belongs to S.E. Hinton - which isn't me, by the way. I also don't own _In My Place _by Coldplay.

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**Red Ears**

_Tulsa, Oklahoma - 1965. (Summer)_

_I was scared, I was scared _  
_Tired and underprepared _  
_But I wait for you _

Lori fanned herself with sweating palms. At the moment, she wanted nothing more than to dump a bucket of ice water on herself; reason being that it was too damn hot to be outside. She swigged some of her Pepsi.

"It's so hot," she whined, turning to face her aunt. How could she fucking stand this intense weather? Sure New York had its days, but this weather was kinda torture.

"Then go inside," Aunt Rebecca replied bluntly, nose still stuck in that tattered notebook of hers.

'_Go inside,' she says_. Lori silently scoffed. _The hell am I supposed to do in there?_

She sighed. Yeah, she could go inside if she really wanted to, but there was nothing to do in there. The TV didn't really entertain her like it used to when she was younger; she had to be up and about at all times, which, in this case, clearly wasn't going to happen. She still hadn't made any friends - though it was sort of expected. It was, after all, her second day there - or day and a half.

"Why do you like to sit out in this crazy ass weather anyhow? I'm sweatin'," Lori said while glancing at her glistening hands.

Aunt Rebecca looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Language," she chided Lori. "And It allows me to think. Being outside with nature, I mean."

_Outside with nature? What in Sam hell did that even mean -_

"Don't look like that," Aunt Rebecca said going back to her notebook. "I didn't ask you to come outside with me, remember?"

Lori huffed. "Can I go for a walk? Since there's nothing to do and all," she asked, wheels turning in her head.

Aunt Rebecca stiffened and glanced up from her notebook. "A walk?"

Lori cocked an eyebrow. "That a problem?"

She was actually confused as to how a walk _would_ be a problem. You're supposed to be encouraging kids nowadays to walk, right? It's real good for your health, or somethin'.

"No, honey," Aunt Rebecca shook her head. "A walk sounds nifty. Just be back in fifteen tops. Dig?"

Lori nodded absently. She didn't even care that her aunt just said the word "nifty"; she just wanted to get the hell off the front steps. "Yeah, sure," she said standing up to stretch. "Fifteen minutes. Got yourself a deal."

She hopped off the steps and started down the sidewalk without a reply.

_If you go, if you go _  
_Leaving me here on my own _  
_Well I wait for you _

Silence filled the empty streets. There were no cars, no people. Hell, if this were one of those western movies, a tumbleweed would've crossed the street just then. Actually, the only thing that could be heard was the soft, whistling of the wind and her shoes hitting the asphalt road.

It was the summer, so there definitely wasn't any school classes going on. So where the fuck was everyone? Even worse, where the fuck was she?

Realization dawned. She had no idea where she was headed to, or even how to get back to Meadow Street. In simpler words - she was lost.

She groaned and pounded her head with angry fists. "You're so stupid, Lori."

It didn't occur to her at the time that she didn't know where she was going (apparently, it didn't occur to her aunt either). She didn't know anything about Tulsa, Oklahoma, for that matter. She could've used her head and asked Aunt Rebecca to accompany her on the stupid walk - now she didn't even know how to get back.

"Fuck." She kicked a tiny rock down the road. She sure was in some deep shit. Aunt Rebecca would surely have a cow when she discovers that she won't be showing up on her front porch in fifteen minutes. But it was partly her fault too. After all, she should've known that Lori was new here and didn't know every single damned street. And even if -

A shadow appeared on the brick wall she was about to pass. She stopped dead in her tracks. Something fell to the pavement with a _clang, _and Lori didn't dare move.

Did the dark figure even realize she was there? Or was it just a crazy ass figment of her imagination? Glory, she sure did hope it was the latter.

The shadow hissed, in what Lori guessed was pain, and it said, "who's there?"

It was a feminine voice.

She felt relieved that it wasn't a guy that could pound her to the ground in a heartbeat; though, she still didn't move. She wasn't entirely dense; she had just enough common sense to stay put. This woman, girl, kid, whatever, could be some kind of mentally insane person - she'd seen it before, probably in the newspaper. You just hear about a lot of shit in New York.

Lori narrowed her eyes, but she didn't say anything. She started slowly backing away, not turning her back for shit.

She heard an object being picked up and the clicking of heels. A female sprang out of the alleyway yelling and lunged for Lori, catching her by surprise.

"WOAH! Stop! Put that fucking thing down you insane - "

The girl dangled the crowbar above Lori's head, stopping her mid-sentence. "What do you think you're doing?" Lori could tell the girl was holding onto the tool for dear life, as her knuckles were white.

"What am I doing? What the hell are _you _doing - you tryna kill someone? Goddamn." Lori flinched when the girl put the crowbar back above her head. "Fucking nuts," she muttered.

"You nearly scared the shit out of me, no, you did actually," the strange girl growled. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

"How the hell was I supposed to know you were back there?" Lori glared at the girl, getting even more pissed off as each second passed. "Who the - who hides in an alley, anyway?"

"I wasn't hiding -"

"Could you just put that fucking thing away?" Lori interrupted her.

"No," she said, her tone harsher than before. _Maybe she doesn't like to be interrupted?_ "I wasn't hiding; I was looking for something."

"And what," Lori started in a teasing tone. "May you be looking for in an alleyway?" She didn't really care if the insane girl was hiding or not, she just wanted to get under her skin.

"None of your business, kid," she answered hotly.

_The fuck? I ain't no damn kid_…

The girl slowly lowered her crowbar, and Lori bit back a sigh of relief. She would not give this chick the satisfaction of scaring her a little.

"Finally, you know -"

"Shut the hell up before I clobber you."

Lori stared at her with a blank look. Who did this girl think she was? If she weren't the only possible way she could get home at the time, the girl would've been on the ground within the snap of a finger.

"Listen, bit- I mean, will you show me back to Meadow Street?"

"Why would I do that?"

Lori resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She wasn't in the mood to play fucking games with this eerie-looking stranger. "I'm lost… and I'm new here?"

The girl cocked her head to the right. "S'your name, kid? You look pretty familiar." She said it in a caring tone, which left Lori pretty confused. This girl, who was just threatening to hit her with a damn crowbar, was being nice all of a sudden? What the fuck?

"I look familiar? And, uh, Lori's the name," she said instead.

"Can't place the name," the girl tapped her chin thoughtfully, then shrugged. "Aw, well, shoot. My name's Gwendolyn Warrens, but call me Gwen, alright?"

"Alright…" she trailed off, not really caring what the girl's name was. "So, you'll show me, right?"

"Oh! Right, sure," Gwen exclaimed. "Follow me."

Lori eyed the crowbar that was still in the girl's hand. She cleared her throat, and Gwen got the hint.

The brunette threw the crowbar down the alley, making an echo of _clangs_.

_Yeah, how long must you wait for him? _  
_Yeah, how long must you pay for him? _  
_Yeah, how long must you wait for him? _

Gwen and Lori got a long real well, despite the crowbar incident that happened back by the alley.

From what Lori could tell, Gwen was a real talkitive girl. She could probably talk for hours and not even show any sign of tiredness. But that was okay, because she, herself, could talk hours on end as well.

Gwen had told her all about her personal life (she was real surprised the stranger had opened up so fast). She discovered that Gwen had an older protective brother named Lee, who was in a gang called the River Kings. She was actually kind of surprised that Tulsa had gangs- it seemed like a good, calm place to live in. Gwen was sixteen and was a "greaser." Whatever the hell that was, she didn't know.

"…and I've lived here my whole life." Gwen twirled her straight, chocolate hair around her finger and popped her gum.

Lori nodded, but was still stuck on one part of her story. "You said you're a greaser. What's that mean?"

Gwen stopped in her tracks. "Wow," she said while looking Lori up and down. "I don't really know how to explain it. The poorer kids, you could say," she tapped her chin and walked again. "Just believe we're better than those damn Socs."

Socs? _Well, alright then_. This still wasn't making any sense to her, but she let it slide anyway.

"Say," Gwen suddenly spoke, "how's 'bout I show you the Dingo? Cokes on me."

Lori shrugged and grinned a little. "Can't turn down a Coke."

_Please, please, please _  
_Come on and sing to me _  
_To me, me _

Lori fidgeted in her seat. The Dingo sure was loud at this time of day, or probably any day for the matter. There were a lot of tough looking guys - the ones that looked like they could break your arm in four seconds flat, not the ones who just acted like they were. A group of boys were glaring at each other in the far corner the whole time, and she was amazed that there hadn't been a fight yet.

She jumped a little when a rough, loud voice came from the booth behind her. "Ponyboy! Are you even listening to me?"

_Ponyboy? _Lori narrowed her eyes in thought_. That sure is a… strange name. Maybe it's a nickname? _She brushed it off - it wasn't her business to know anyhow. If that was the kid's name, it was his name.

When she looked up at Gwen, she found the girl glaring at the booth where the rough voice had came from. She twisted to look too.

There were four boys, one that she actually recognized. The one that was at Bertha's Breakfast. She remembered the kid's ears had gone red when she caught him staring.

"Well," a boy with sideburns laughed. "If it isn't Gwendolyn!"

The young boy sitting next to him looked embarrassed, like he did back at that breakfast diner.

Gwen snarled. "Shut up, Two-Bit." _What's up with the weird names?_ Lori thought to herself.

The Two-Bit guy feigned a look of hurt. He put a hand to his heart and stuck out his lower lip. "C'mon, don't be like that. How's about you -"

"No," Gwen cut him off mid-sentence. Lori got the feeling that Gwen didn't like this guy very much.

He laughed. "I was just gonna' ask you to introduce me to your new friend. Never seen her before," he said and winked at Lori.

Damn, does everyone around here know every single person? Her mind ran through her encounter with Sylvia in the bathroom. She'd said the same thing. She resisted the urge to flip him the bird for winking at her, but Gwen beat her to it.

"Fuck you. Why did you cheat on my friend?"

"Kathy?"

"No, Darlene," Gwen said sarcastically. "Yes, Kathy, dumbass."

Two-Bit scowled while the others in his booth looked uneasy. Sensing the uneasyness, he left their booth and slid in next to Lori.

"Now, now, Gwendolyn," he said, grinning at the murderous look on her face. "I told you before; I didn't cheat on Kathy."

"Then how come I saw you swapping spit with another skirt, huh?" Gwen shook her head, while Lori just sat uncomftorably at the new addition to their booth.

Two-Bit shrugged and cocked an eyebrow. "You kids nowadays have such a strange imagination, you know?" He nudged Lori with his elbow and laughed. Gwen didn't seem to find that very funny, as she jabbed a bony finger in his face.

"You really hurt her this time," she said, pissed. "Go away before I get Lee to kick your ass."

He raised his hands in mock defense. "No need for threatening, I'll go." He cracked a grin at Lori again and slid back to his booth.

Gwen looked at her for a second. "Sorry 'bout that," she said. "He can be such a jerk sometimes."

Lori thought about all of her arguments with Jimmy, the rich, obnoxious kid she had sat next to in English. "Yeah, it's okay. I get it."

"Guess I should get you home. You said your aunt would be pretty worried, huh?"

_Come on and sing it out, out, out _  
_Come on and sing it now, now, now _  
_Come on and sing it _

She slipped inside the door quietly. All she had to do was make it up to her room without being caught, and from there, she could pretend that she was home all along. Aunt Rebecca would never notice what time she actually got in, right?

She tiptoed up the stairs, but stopped mid-step when a throat cleared behind her. "Fuck," she whispered. It was just her luck to get caught.

"What do you think you're doing?" Aunt Rebecca's voice was quiet but harsh.

Lori wheeled around. "I have a good reason, I swear."

She didn't want to get on her aunt's bad side on her first couple of days here, because unfortunately, she could send her back home to Peggy any time she felt like it. That was the way her mom and Aunt Rebecca had set things up.

"Oh, yeah? And what would that be?" She tapped her foot on the carpet floor. "You agreed fifteen minutes, and it's been hours."

"I got lost," she said quickly. "But I made a new friend named Gwen. We went to the Dingo, that's all. Please don't send me back," she begged (which was rare).

Aunt Rebecca lightened up a bit. "You should've called, Lor. I was worried sick."

"I'm.. sorry?" She didn't mean to say it as a question, but it just slipped. Her aunt was really worried about her?

"Go to bed, and you better not let this happen again," Aunt Rebecca waved her off. "I want to know where you are at all times, you understand?"

Lori nodded slowly. "Sure, night." She ran up the stairs and into her bedroom. This time, she actually had enough strength to change into pajamas; she actually had something to look forward to.

_In my place, in my place _  
_Were lines that I couldn't change _  
_I was lost, oh yeah _  
_Oh yeah_

**A/N: I apologize for updating so late and that this chapter kind of sucks. Next chapter, we will probably be seeing some more canon characters. Hurrah!**

**Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and alerts. They mean a lot, so if you could just keep doing that, it would be greatly appreciated. It doesn't take more than one minute and thirty seconds to leave a review! Yeah, you keep that in mind. (:**


	4. Reminisce

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Outsiders_**, **but the non-canon characters. I also don't own the song_ Airplanes _by B.O.B. ft Hayley Williams. Enjoy this short chapter(hahar).

* * *

**Reminisce  
**_I could use a dream or a genie or a wish_  
_To go back to a place much simpler than this_

With shaking fingers, she ran her thumb over the black and white photograph. She'd found it inside her drawer that morning and got the feeling Aunt Rebecca had set it there on purpose, for she hadn't seen it before.

Lori didn't even remember taking it; she looked to be about seven or eight in the photo.

A wide grin was plastered on her face and scrawny arms hung limply around the neck of a young boy sitting beside her. Her brother.

A funny noise escaped from her lips.

She hadn't seen him in years and didn't even know much about him. She knew his name, of course, and a few memories with them playing in the park, walking home from school, and the first time he went to jail, but that was pretty much it.

"Dallas…" she murmured to herself.

She didn't remember much of her childhood, but she remembered the night that split her and her brother apart entirely.

"_I'm getting the fuck out of here, and I'm taking my son with me." A meaty fist pounded against the kitchen counter. Ted was angry, and he was perfectly capable of taking away her older brother, and Lori knew it. _

_She hugged her knees and brought them to her chest. _

_She couldn't see her mom's expression, because she was locked up in her bedroom, but she could tell it was of fear and shock just by the tone in her voice._

"_No, you can't!" Peggy yelled. "You can't take him from me; he's mine!"_

_Ted had responded with another fist connecting to the counter. "Yeah? Well, you should've thought about that before you fucked with another -"_

"_Don't you dare," Peggy interrupted, bawling. "Don't you dare finish that sentence. I did not do anything, and I _told _you that!"_

"_Then where the hell were you last night, huh?"_

"_I…" Pause. "I was with Esther."_

"_You hesitated, you lying tramp." _

_A door slammed open. Dallas's room._

"_No, no, no!" Peggy cried, pleaded, and begged on her knees, but Ted refused to deal with her anymore._

_He was a real hypocrite; he had slept with plenty of women during his marriage with Peggy - but that didn't stop him from being pissed when she'd done it._

_The last words she'd heard from her father was, "you can keep the girl."_

_Tears had blurred Lori's vision. She couldn't see, or hear anything but Peggy's soft sobs anymore. The small house was quiet for once._

"I see you found it."

Lori jumped at the sudden voice. "Y-yeah. Why…why did you - why?" She couldn't even force the words out; it all got caught in her dry throat.

Aunt Rebecca forced a tiny smile and shrugged. "I found it while going through some boxes earlier, thought you'd probably want it."

Lori didn't say anything, but continued to stare at the younger kids in the picture. The scenery was on the front porch of their old house in New York.

"I made breakfast, if you want any," Aunt Rebecca said breaking the silence.

She nodded slowly. "Thanks…for this." She let the photograph slip through her fingertips and onto the dresser.

Aunt Rebecca grinned. "You're welcome, kiddo."

_Cause after all the partyin' and smashin' and crashin'_  
_And all the glitz and the glam and the fashion_

Lori spotted her new friend leaning against a wall with a cigarette dangling from her lips. They made plans to meet each other yesterday, after Gwen had shown her the way back to her neighborhood.

Lori strolled towards her.

Gwen grinned once she spotted her. "Hey, kid," she said. "How ya' doing?"

Lori shrugged. "I'm alive. You?"

"Yeah. Hey, lets go to the DX, huh?" She blew smoke ringlets in Lori's face, to which she made a disgusted face. Lori snatched the cigarette from Gwen's lips.

"Hey!" Gwen gaped at her. "What'd you do that for? You could've asked, I would've gave you one!"

She threw the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it, putting it out. "Fucking hate that smell," Lori said, scowling. "You shouldn't be smoking anyhow."

"Damn, you sound like my old lady."

"What's the DX?" Lori asked, changing the subject. She didn't remember her aunt showing her a "DX" whenever they toured the town.

"A gas station, just down the street. I hang around there a lot," Gwen said, her eyes wandering all over the place.

Lori looked at her, perplexed. "Why the hell would you hang around a gas station? I hate the smell of gasoline."

"You sure are picky about smells, huh?" Gwen teased. "Anyway, there's this hunk that works there. Sodapop is his name."

"Sodapop?" Lori asked, again baffled with all the bizarre names.

Gwen's eyes finally locked with hers again. "Yup," - she grinned - "he's real sweet, too."

"You wanna' hang out at a gas station…just to see a good-looking guy?"

Gwen scoffed. "No, I just wanna' get an Oh Henry bar."

"Yeah, sure," Lori taunted.

Gwen pushed off from the wall and started down the street. Lori stood looking after her.

"You coming, Blondie? I needa' see him!"

When they got there, all she saw was a group of girls surrounding a boy at the pumps, and from how Gwen said the good-looking guy always had a herd of wanting chicks surrounding him, Lori was guessing this was _the_ Sodapop.

Gwen dragged her by the wrist towards the pumps, occasionally pushing a girl or two out of her path (to which earned them some unfriendly looks).

When Lori got a good glimpse of his face, she saw why he had his own fan club. He looked like a Greek god - maybe even better.

Gwen took a lungful of air. "Hi, Sodapop," she breathed.

Sodapop looked up from the pump. "Hey, Gwen." He grinned at her, and Gwen slightly swayed on her feet. She was like a totally different person around this boy.

He went back to work, while a few envious glares were sent towards Gwen.

Lori nudged a (somewhat) drooling Gwen with her elbow and hissed, "_Oh Henry _bar my ass."

"Oh, yeah," Gwen said feigning shock. "I forgot, lets go. Bye Soda!"

"See ya'," he gave a tiny wave and said something to a brunette that made her giggle and cheeks go pink.

They began walking across the street again. Yeah, she knew there was no _Oh Henry _bar involved from the start.

"He's a looker, ain't he?" Gwen's green eyes danced just thinking about Sodapop.

"Sure is," Lori agreed. "I'm starving…"

Gwen laughed. "Way to ruin the moment. Let's go to my place - whip up some lunch, huh?"

"Sure."

_And all the pandemonium and all the madness_  
_There comes a time where you fade to the blackness_

The Nightly Double wasn't very crowded like she imagined it would be. Most people were in their cars, as it was a chilly night, while her and Gwen took seats.

"It's freezin' out here," Lori said, rubbing her bare arms.

Gwen slurped some of her Coke, "Why didn't you bring a coat, stupid?"

"You wouldn't let me run home, doofus." Lori grinned and playfully shoved Gwen's shoulder, purposely making the Coke slosh.

"Shit!" Gwen yelped in surprise when the liquid dropped on her shoes.

An old lady turned around and hissed, "Shh! Crazy kids."

"Fuck you! Crazy elderly," Gwen quietly mocked to the back of her head. Lori sat amused by her friend's antics.

"Is it over? Can we leave?" came a snobbish female voice behind them. It sounded ridiculously familiar to Lori. She fidgeted in her seat a little.

"What the fuck?" A rougher male voice retorted. "We just got here."

"This movie already looks boring. Let's go to Buck's and have some real fun," the female voice flirted.

Gwen rolled her eyes. She was obviously hearing the conversation too.. though it was hard not to. They were directly a row in front of them. Lori now understood how the old lady must've felt with all of her and Gwen's racket.

Fits of chuckles erupted from behind them as well. "Whoa, slow down there, girl," a different guy said, hooting with laughter.

The girl shrieked. "Get offa' me, Two-Bit!"

Gwen's head shot towards hers. Her wide, green eyes were probably asking the same question Lori was thinking: 'Two-Bit's here?' The brunette whipped around to face the row behind them. Her eyes narrowed at the sight.

"Welup," a voice she recognized said. "If it isn't Gwendolyn!"

_Yup, Two-Bit's here._

Lori sat facing the front, as she didn't want to draw attention to herself like her friend did. Wrong idea. She felt a gentle tug on her loosely tied ponytail, making a handful of her hair fall out.

"Knock it off, Two-Bit," Gwen snapped. "We're not in the mood. Sylvia..." her eyes narrowed again.

_Sylvia's here? _She supposed it made sense, though; the annoying high-pitched, snobbish voice practically gave her away. Lori finally twisted in her seat.

"Is that who I think it is?" Sylvia let out a fake gasp and clutched the shoulder of the boy next to her dramatically (to which he shrugged off). "New girl?"

She glared at the blond. "Guess you're too self-centered to remember names, huh?" Lori looked Sylvia up and down. "Not surprised.."

Gwen clapped her hands in amusement.

"'Scuse me?" Sylvia scoffed, "I'd keep the bitchy comments to yourself, new girl. You really don't know who you're messing with."

The boy next to her finally looked up from his cigarette. His familiar ice blue eyes bore holes into hers, and his blond hair whipped around slightly in the breeze. The features - eyes, ears, hair color, jaw line - ... they were so identical to hers. Sylvia's head shot back and forth between them, as if she were just realizing the intense stares.

"Dally... do you know this girl?"

_And when you're staring at that phone in your lap_  
_And you hoping but them people never call you back_  
_But that's just how the story unfolds_  
_You get another hand soon after you fold_  
_And when your plans unravel_  
_And they sayin' what would you wish for_  
_If you had one chance_

* * *

A/N: There's a fast update for you. It was to make up for the last chapter, how slow I got that one up. So, you're welcome - and there may be a new update this week/weekend; It all depends on how I feel. (: _**THE MORE YOU REVIEW, THE MORE FASTER I UPDATE!**_ yeh.

(P.S., thanks for the all the reviews, favorites, alerts you guys have given me. I really appreciate. You're all f'mazin', yo.)


	5. Nostalgia

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders, but the characters you don't recognize. **_Warning:_ Slight OOCness, or none, depending on how you see it. **(No flames, please.)****

* * *

****Nostalgia**

Everything seemed to be going in slow-motion as her brain gradually put the pieces together. It all made sense - the name, how she oddly bore a resemblance to him, and even how his eyes narrowed at that question.

Dally. It had to be short for the name belonging to a boy she'd hadn't seen in forever. His reaction to the question spoke loud enough. He knew her, and she knew him.

Dally was Dallas, and Dallas was her brother. He was here, right in front of her face, and as far as she knew, he'd been living in Tulsa for quite awhile. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought about visiting her aunt sooner.

Her mind was screaming at her to say something, but she couldn't find the right words. She felt like she was going to be sick; her throat was dry and her heart was racing at an awfully fast pace. She was also in desperate need of a cigarette or something to calm her nerves.

"_Well?" _Sylvia broke the silence yet again. "I asked you a question, Dallas. You wanna' answer it?"

An annoyed Dally looked Sylvia in the eye, and he stood from his seat. "I'm outta' here, man," he stated abruptly.

_That's it? _Lori pondered to herself, _He's just gonna' up and leave like that? _

"Where the hell are you going?" Sylvia ran after him, or, the best she could in her too high-heels.

"Oh," Two-Bit said with a drunken grin forming on his lips, "It's gettin' kinda chilly out here, I gotta' bail." He took a swig from a bottle sticking out of a brown paper bag. "See ya'll later."

Two-Bit stumbled away, leaving her and Gwen in an awkward silence.

Gwen spoke first, "What the hell was that all about?"

"Shoot, I don't know. I think he was drunk…" Lori trailed off, knowing full well what her friend actually meant.

Gwen pinched her long fingernails into Lori's shoulder blade. "Stop playing stupid," she hissed bluntly.

Lori gaped at her. "I'm not!"

"You didn't tell me you knew Dallas Winston." Gwen raised an eyebrow. "How, exactly, _do_ you know Dallas Winston? You're new here."

"Uh, um," Lori stammered judiciously. It was then that she silently cursed herself for being an awful liar.

"Wait, were you and him-"

Lori cut her off, "What? No! why would - no!"

She was disgusted yet thankful for the sudden turn in the conversation.

"Glory, you should've seen your face!" she laughed loudly, which received her a few "shut-up's" from the other people.

"Yeah, yeah. Can we go? This movie's stupid."

"Fine." Gwen stood and stretched. "I gotta' good idea where we can go, too."

Lori wasn't all too ecstatic about the mischievous gleam in Gwen's eyes. It was funny how she knew so much about Gwen's ways in the short amount of time they'd known each other.

She groaned, "By good, you mean something wild or troublesome, right?"

XXX

"This shit reeks."

"It's just beer and cigarettes. Lighten up a little and have some fun, would ya?"

Lori glared at her. "I can't believe I let you drag me to a party."

It's not that Lori didn't want to have fun, really, she did. It was just that Aunt Rebecca would be on her tail if she didn't know where she was at all times. The smell of booze and smoke would stain her clothing - the God awful stench made her sick. Plus, she had to have permission to go to parties. And she didn't exactly get permission…

"Stop whining," Gwen said and rolled her eyes, "You're killin' the mood."

"I ain't whining," Lori grumbled. Her eye caught something at the bar. "I'll meet up with you later… okay?"

"Wait, what? Did you see a cute guy or somethin'?" Gwen looked around frantically. "Where is he?"

"Bye, Gwen."

She squeezed through some dance-crazed people to get to where she was headed. A familiar figure was slouched over the bar, a beer bottle by his side.

Lori sat down in the seat next to him. Sensing her existence, he lifted his head up and mumbled something incoherent.

"Hi," she stated rather calmly.

"I'm not - " he rubbed his bloodshot eyes. He'd been drinking; he probably couldn't even tell who she was. "What the fuck do you want?"

"What do I want?" Lori cocked an eyebrow. "I don't want anything."

"Then why the hell are you following me?" Dally's fist pounded against the bar, and his eyes narrowed at her.

She jumped. "I'm not following you, either."

He ignored her. "Shepard send you over here? huh? I bet he did. The fucker -"

"My name's Lori," she interrupted him.

Dally was silent, but his reaction, once again, spoke loud and clear. He then focused his eyes on the bar, absently pushing around the beer bottle.

She continued when he didn't say anything. "I've lived in New York all my life."

She didn't exactly know where she was going with this, but the words just kept flowing and flowing. Maybe she could even get him to admit…

He looked up at her, annoyed. "Crazy broad..." he muttered. "Why're you tellin' me this?"

"My ma's name is Peggy, and the Old Man's name is Ted. I have an older brother whose name is -"

"Fuck, I get it!" Dally rubbed a knuckle across his forehead. "Just - what the hell are you doin' down here, huh?"

"What?" She motioned towards her ear. The music was awfully loud and made her head throb, and it didn't help that they had to shout at one another to be heard.

Dally grumbled something illogical and snatched her by the wrist. He dragged her upstairs and pushed her in a door to their left, then kicked it closed with his foot.

She took the time to observe the room; she guessed it was his. But then again, why would it be his room? He was supposed to be living with Ted.

Lori ran her fingertips over a dresser in the far corner. "This your room?" she asked, voicing her thoughts.

"Don't touch nothin'," he snapped and sat on the bed, causing the springs to creak. He didn't answer her question, so she asked another one.

"Why aren't you living with Te- Dad?"

Dally stopped cold and twisted to glare at her. His eyes sent shivers down her spine. "You ask a lot of questions."

Lori scoffed,"Well, maybe if you answered them..." she trailed off.

"What the hell are you doin' here?" Dally asked bluntly, getting up only to shut the window.

Lori scowled. "You did drag me in-"

His hands ran down his face, a sure sign of frustration. "In Tulsa," he growled. "You should be in New York, huh?"

She absently fingered a knob on the dresser drawer.

"What did I say about touchin' shit?"

Lori rolled her eyes. "Sorry," she managed to spit out. "I'm staying with Aunt Rebecca for the summer. Why d'you care so damn much why I'm here?"

"Aunt who?"

"Aunt Rebecca! Dad's sister," she said. "Remember?"

He blinked and ignored the question. "Come here."

Lori did a double take, but she didn't move.

"Come here, would ya?" He rolled his eyes. "I ain't gonna' do nothin'."

She gradually walked over and sat next to him on the bed.

He tugged on her ponytail, and a small smirk formed on his lips. "You look the same."

An odd noise escaped from her mouth, and she thought that she might burst into tears right then and there. She wrapped her arms around his middle, enjoying the once absent warmth. Even though she could feel his body tense at the sudden gesture, she still didn't let go. It didn't matter if he hugged her back or not; she missed her brother.

What surprised her most was the strong arms that embraced her backside, hesitant and tentative. She grinned into his chest.

"You missed me," Lori sang. She could almost hear Dally's eyes rolling in their sockets.

"Don't push it."

He let go when knocks came at the door. Actually, it was more like pounding than knocking. He cursed and swung open the door, revealing a pissed looking blond.

"Dallas!" Sylvia clenched her fists. "How could you-.." Then she realized Lori was in the room. "What's she doing in your room?"

Lori grinned and went to stand next to Dally, enjoying every minute of Sylvia's hatred towards her. Lori knew she should tell her, but she'd let Sylvia find out by herself. Her reaction itself would be worth however long it'd take.

"Y'know, you're missin' out tonight Dally." Sylvia sneered, her eyes raking Lori over in distaste.

"Fuck off, Sylvia," Dally said, his voice low and full of danger. "I ain't missin' shit."

He slammed the door in her face, and she angrily huffed on the other side.

XXX

Gwen was grinning. "Why didn't you tell me you were related to him?" she asked. "I honestly did not see that comin'."

Lori kicked a rock and shrugged. "Hell, I didn't even know he was here. In Tulsa, I mean. So it wouldn't make much sense to tell ya."

Gwen mumbled something under her breath, but Lori decided to ignore it. They walked up to a lit up white house on the end of the street.

"Mom, I'm home!" Gwen sang, referring to that one show that Lori couldn't even remember the name of.

"Where's your phone?" Lori asked, shutting the front door to Gwen's house. "I needa' call my aunt."

Gwen guided her to a phone in the corner of the living room. "I'll be back," she said. "Hafta check on the Old Lady." She rolled her eyes and went into a room somewhere in the back.

Lori waited for Aunt Rebecca to pick up, and after a couple of rings, she did. "Hey, it's me, Lori."

"Lori? Lori! Where are you? I swear to -"

"I'm at Gwen's house. Is it okay if I sleepover?"

"Well..." her aunt trailed off, unsure about the idea.

"Please, please, please, please, pl-"

"Okay, okay! Just be home by one tomorrow. I want you to meet someone."

"Who?" Lori asked, curious as to why her aunt would want her to meet someone.

She could almost see the grin forming on Aunt Rebecca's lips. "You'll see. Alright, honey, I have to go. See you tomorrow."

Gwen plopped down on the sofa next to Lori.

"Fine. Bye," Lori mumbled and hung up. She turned to Gwen. "She said it was okay."

Gwen high-fived her. "Let's get this party started.. but first, I think we should change or somethin'. The beer and cigarette smell is really gettin' to me."

"Told you."

* * *

A/N: This chapter's shorter than I realized. Ah, well, sorry. But dude, I'm gettin' pretty good with this updating thing, though I wouldn't count on it every few days like I'm doing now. You guys got lucky, because **_Texas _**has had two **snow days **in a row, today being the third one _(weird, right?_). :D Hopefully we have a snow day on Friday, too. Highschool is a pain. **Reviews=faster updates. I swear of it.**

**P.S. Did you think Dal was OOC? He's a really hard character for me to nail, and I know that's no excuse, but I'm trying and in desperate need of your opinion/advice. As a matter of fact, I think I'm gonna re-read the book today. mffgdhagk. - Taryn.**


	6. Hothead

**PLEASE VOTE ON THE POLL on my profile. It has to do with this story! Thanks.  
Disclaimer: **I don't own _The Outsiders_, nor the song_ Two Is Better Than One_ by Boys Like Girls. My apologies for the super late update; sophomore year is really kicking my ass right now. So, just for you, this is a special chapter that's somewhat long and written in a different POV. **Also**, i**s anyone interested in being my beta? **

* * *

**Hothead  
**_  
So maybe it's true_  
_That I can't live without you_  
_Maybe two is better than one_

Dally rubbed a knuckle across his forehead, as if it could cease the high level of frustration gradually building. Even though he tried drinking away his memories from the past night, he could still remember them - clear as day - and it was all because of _her_. She didn't have to do that; she could've let him be, but no, the heart-set girl just _had_ to approach him at the bar last night. Now look how it's got him.

He really didn't need any of this shit right now, not ever. Having a kid near clinging onto his arm, begging and pleading him to come back into her life - he didn't need that. He didn't want to be followed like Ponyboy did with his older brother. Jesus Christ, could he already picture it too. Big, bad Dally Winton's gone soft for his kid sister attatched to his sleeve (of course, anyone who said that would be begging for mercy).

Dally cupped the frigid sink water into his hands and threw it on his face, causing him to wake up a little more. Muttering curses, he snatched up his shirttail and wiped the water that was slowly dribbling down his chin. He twisted the faucet off and headed to his room where he got dressed. Unfortunately, he was haunted by his thoughts there, too.

Fuck. It was damn near impossible to get rid of her; she just kept slipping into his mind, and he didn't know why. He really didn't care for her, and he really didn't know what happened with him last night. The hug – shit, the hug. That was it. If he doesn't snap out of it, avoid her, maybe, then she's gonna turn him into a goddamned candyass.

He slipped his right arm through the sleeve of his jacket. Walking out of the room, he headed for the stairs. He planned on going to the Curtises for a little while.

"Hey, fucker," a voice said behind him. It was cold, deep, furious. Without even turning around, he knew it was Shepard's.

An easy smirk came to Dally's lips, and he turned, now face to face with Tim. "You followin' me, Shepard?"

"Shut up Dally," Tim snapped, his eyes narrowing. "I know damn well ya slashed my fucking tires last night." He cracked his knuckles and clenched his fists, warning Dally that he was serious - and pissed.

Dally shrugged it off. "Wasn't me," he said. "Went nowhere near your shit of a car."

"Well, well..." Tim smirked, "You callin' me a liar, Dally?" He took a step closer.

Dally remained unfazed. "One of your boy's tell ya that, Shepard? They see me cuttin' into your tires?" he growled, his brow creasing. He sure as hell didn't do it. He was too busy downing drinks and arguing with Sylvia half the damn night.

"That's just like those dumbasses." Dally flashed a crooked grin at the murderous look on Tim's face. "That's one thing you've all got in common. S'no wonder you keep 'em around -"

Tim socked Dally square in the mouth, obviously fed up with him talking shit about his gang. It wasn't the first time he'd said anything about them, either. "You owe me new tires, you son of a bitch," Tim spat, hovering over him where he lay on the ground.

He kicked Tim in the shin with the heel of his boot and shoved him to the right so he wouldn't fall on top of him. Dally sat up and wiped the blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth. "I don't owe you shit." He leaned over and threw a punch at Tim's gut and then his nose, earning a satisfying groan of pain.

"Knock it off you idiots," Buck's voice floated from the bottom of the stairs. "Or get the hell out, cause ya sure ain't about to fight here."

Dally smirked at Tim before standing up. "Was just leavin'," he said, flipping the collar of his jacket up.

Tim stood and glared at him, slowly shaking his head a few times as if to say, _"I'm gonna' get you later."_

"See ya, Shepard," Dally said, making his way down the stairs. "Stay outta trouble, hear?"

"Fuck you."

He slightly turned, just in time to see Tim flip him the bird.

XXX

Surely his luck wasn't that bad. There, at least ten feet in front of him, walked his sister – alone. One part of him wanted to turn and walk in the opposite direction, while the other wanted to knock some common sense into her for walking by her lonesome.

Why was avoiding someone so fucking hard?

Dally quickened his pace, having lagged behind from thinking too much. He grabbed ahold of her shoulder and forcefully twisted her around, maybe a little harder than he would've liked.

"What the hell're you doin?"

Lori seemed a little surprised that it was Dally. Her mouth formed a tiny 'o' before she finally snapped out if it. "Walkin'..." she trailed off, probably not sure why he cared.

"Yeah, no shit you're walking, wiseass." He rolled his eyes. "Why you walking by yourself? Don't you know anything? It ain't safe."

"Not safe?" she repeated, "Not safe? Why wouldn't it be safe?"

Dally stared at her with a blank look before cursing under his breath. Fucking kid was clueless. He didn't want to explain the whole Soc versus Greaser thing to her; he'd leave it to that brunette chick he's saw Lori hangin' with at Buck's and the Drive-In.

"I'm walking you." He rolled his eyes again at the look on her face. "What don't you understand by 'not safe'? Let me walk you," he clarified.

"Alright, alright. God, what's your problem?" Lori asked as she began leading Dally to wherever the hell they were going. He assumed (or hoped) that it was where she was staying.

"I don't have no fucking problem," he answered bitterly. He wouldn't really call it a problem; walking her just set him into an even more pissed off mood.

"Then why're you bein' so grouchy? What did I do to upset you so much?"

He caught Lori peeking at him through the corner of his eye and couldn't help but to feel a little more annoyed. "You always ask a shitload of questions?"

She kicked at an invisible rock. In an innocent, quiet voice she replied, "No."

He actually felt a little pang of guilt for being so harsh towards her, so he decided to shut up for a while. When they arrived to the house she was staying in, he was a little surprised it was only a street over from where he was headed.

Lori began to walk up the path to the front door.

"Don't walk alone," Dally reminded her, leaning against the fence.

Lori froze. Without turning around, she said, "Won't happen again...", and disappeared inside.

Shaking his head at her sarcasm, Dally took out his carton of Kools and lit a cigarette.

XXX

Dally flipped his cigarette butt away (he knew Darry wasn't too fond of smokin' in the house) before walking inside. He was greeted with raucous laughter and yelling. That's how it always sounded.

Steve and Soda were wrestling on the floor, and Steve had him in a good hold- hollering "say uncle, Soda, say it." Dally slammed the door closed and plopped down on the couch next to a laughing Two-Bit.

Two-Bit finally acknowledged his presence. "Hey, Dal!"

Dally nodded in reply.

Two-Bit nudged his arm. "Saw you headin' upstairs with that pretty blond last night." He winked, probably wanting Dally to enlighten him.

Dally couldn't fight the look of horror that came on his face. He was pretty sure his buddy wasn't referring to Sylvia, because Two-Bit actually knew her name. "What the fuck're you talking about?"

He laughed. "Y'know, the one that was with Gwen at the Drive-In?"

_That's my sister, you doofus_. "Oh, her? Nah, man, I didn't go upstairs with her," he lied. He hoped his look of disgust showed. Apparently it didn't.

Two-Bit grinned and slapped Dally's shoulder, earning him a glare. "Alright, man, whatever you say. I believe ya."

He didn't.

XXX

Lori stood in the center of the living room, eyebrows slightly raised as Aunt Rebecca busied herself with tidying up the pillows. She then scurries into the kitchen and pulls out a lighter from the kitchen drawer. What in Sam hell was she doing?

"I'm here," Lori said after a few moments of standing in the same spot. Aunt Rebecca held up her index finger out of the kitchen doorway, meaning "give me a minute."

Lori kicked off her heels and briskly walked into the kitchen. Aunt Rebecca was just shoving a pan with oval shaped dough into the oven - cookies, she assumed. With all of the already cooked food on the countertops, it looked like there was gonna be some huge feast real soon.

"What're you doin?" Lori asked, while peeking into a pot of boiling water. She was real curious as to what was going on. After all, it's not everyday you see heaps and heaps of food literring the counters and stove.

"What's it look like?" Aunt Rebecca grinned, and lit several candles that were neatly placed in the center of the table. "Told you we were havin' guests."

Lori felt real stupid. On the phone last night, her aunt had said she'd wanted her to meet someone. That was why she was preparing all of the food. "Wait. Guests... as in more than one?"

"Yup."

Lori watched as her aunt hurriedly ran all over the kitchen. "Last time I checked, 'someone' meant only one person. That's what you said on the phone."

"Change of plans, sweetheart," Aunt Rebecca said, placing the lighter back in the kitchen drawer. "Last minute change, forgot to tell ya. Sorry."

"Then who is it? I mean, they. Who're they?"

She finally stopped and actually looked at her for more than ten seconds. "Justa couple of my friends from when I was younger. Sorta like a reunion, you could call it. Haven't seen 'em in years!"

Lori didn't miss the giddy tone in her voice.

"Oh, they're gonna love you," she continued. "You're a pretty good kid, you know that?" She poured half a bag of rice into the boiling water.

"Uh, sure. I'm gonna go shower and get dressed."

"Alright." Aunt Rebecca grinned. "Hurry back, I could use your help."

Lori grabbed her heels and trudged up the stairs.

XXX

Lori adjusted her skirt and reached for the comb sitting on the sink. The entire time in the shower and while she got dressed, she couldn't stop thinking about them: Dally and Peggy and even Ted. She roughly raked the comb through her matted hair, being sure to catch any tough tangles and knots.

Dally was so snippy with her this morning and she couldn't help but to wonder why. Was his pissed off mood aimed towards her or did he already have it before he caught up with her? He said he didn't have a problem, and she believed him. So that could mean anything. Even if she was the reason for his mood, what could she have done to upset him so much? Recalling the past night, she really couldn't think of anything that might've set him off.

She carefully lined her waterline and eyelid with black eyeliner.

Oh, and then there was Peggy. She felt a sudden twinge of anger, yet there was guilt too. After her mother's treated her like shit, she found it perfectly okay with leaving her for the summer. It wasn't like it was for a lifetime. Peggy did talk to her as if she were lower than dirt (if that were even possible), resulting in Lori's anger towards her. The guilt part came from what Peggy had done for her. She gave her shelter, food, money, and didn't even expect her to get a job. Lori had her moments, too. She talked back to her mother, yelled, swore, threw glass plates and vases, yet Peggy was the one workin' for them to stay off the streets, not her.

And Ted. She didn't even really know 'im, 'cept for he walked out of her life without so much as a good-bye. He called Peggy a tramp and left her on her lonesome with a kid on her arm. Not only that, but he took her only son and left her sobbing while he moved outta state. He left Lori, too. "You can keep the girl," he'd said, not even bothering to call her by her name. She wondered if he lived in Tulsa...

"I got it!" She heard Aunt Rebecca shout. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even hear the series of knocks coming from the front door.

Lori rapidly dug underneath the sink. Satisfied with what she found, she slipped on the thick headband and was content with how she looked. It was rare that she wore her hair down. But, for the sake of the guests, she wanted to look real decent. First impressions were somewhat important to her. She turned the bathroom light off and headed down the stairs, where there were foreign adult laughter and voices floating about.

"Oh, there she is," Aunt Rebecca said, pointing at Lori who stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Come here, come here. Don't play that now; I know you ain't shy."

Nup, she wasn't shy. Just too many pair of eyes staring at her could make anyone feel uncomtorable.

Lori grinned and moved to stand next to her Aunt. She took in the new faces. There were at least about twenty or so people in the room, including the small children and teenagers.

"This here is my niece Lori Winston. Everyone, make yourself feel comftorable and there's food in the kitchen." Aunt Rebecca let go of Lori's shoulder and moved to talk to a dark haired woman in the corner.

Lori didn't miss the set of dark blue eyes that flicked to meet hers. What the hell was she doing here? Though, this time, the taller blond's eyes seemed more soft, and she didn't look like she wanted to kill Lori - no, she looked like she was about to faint from shock, and her jaw looked like it was about to hit the floor.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for this slightly sappy chapter and all the skipping around, but I dropped a major important somethin' somethin'. If you guessed who that blond was, then, shoot, you deserve some kinda special surprise or somethin. Reviews equal a faster chapter (that won't take me weeks to update). I also appreciate the tons of reviews on the last chapter, guys; it was more than any reviews on all of the others.  
P.S. The favorites and alerts are great and all, but it's the reviews that make the author ecstatic. (:


	7. Secret

Disclaimer: _The Outsiders_ belongs to Miss Hinton, not me. Warning: This chapter jumps around a lot.

* * *

Before Lori could even comprehend what was happening, blood red nails dug into her skin and dragged her to the kitchen.

"Scram, you little brats," Sylvia spoke, shooting dirty looks at the younger kids in her way. They hurriedly grabbed their cards and scrambled into the living room where the adults were playing catch-up.

Lori snatched her wrist out of Sylvia's grasp, causing the taller blond to finally make eye contact with her. Dark blue eyes glared into her icy ones.

Sylvia had seemed to get over her shock, for she looked more pissed than ever. If it weren't for the tiny blood droplets trickling down her wrist from Sylvia's claws, Lori would've found this hilarious. Ignoring Sylvia's cool stare, Lori moved to get a napkin and scrubbed down her entire arm.

Her sudden movement seemed to have finally triggered Sylvia to snap. "Lori _Winston_, huh?"

Lori stood with an amused look on her face. The taller blond started pacing back and forth, back and forth -

"Do you think this is funny, Lori?" she asked, just now realizing Lori's look, "'Cause, I ain't in a real jokin' mood right now." She moved towards Lori, slightly towering over the shorter girl. Oddly, Lori didn't find the size so much as intimidating.

She raised her hands in defense."Hey now, I never even said nothin'-"

"You're damn right you didn't say anything. Blood, are ya? Huh?"

She had to give her credit; Sylvia wasn't as dumb as she made herself out to be.

"Yeah, we're related.." Lori trailed off, frowning a little. "What's it to _you_, anyhow?" She didn't know why Sylvia was making it such a big deal. Sure, it could be shocking at first, but still - how could it possibly effect her in a way that was _so_ important?

"Don't get snippy with me, Blondie-"

"You're a blond too," Lori interrupted to point out.

Sylvia rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth. "Don't interrupt me. I suggest you stay on my calm level, 'cause right now you're already edgin' -"

"This your calm level?"

"It won't be if you don't shut up!" She slammed her hands on the countertop in frustration - or maybe it was for emphasis. "Damn, let me talk, will you? Now what are you two? Cousins or somethin'?"

Lori moved to sit on the counter. "Nup, brother and sister." She examined a grape before popping it into her mouth. Sylvia looked at her in disgust.

"You? Brother and sister?" The disbelief in her tone was obvious and it sorta ticked Lori off. "You're serious?"

"Nah, I'm jokin'," Lori sarcastically said and helped herself to another grape. Sylvia shot her a look and paced the small kitchen again. Lori eyed the door, planning to make a quick escape before Sylvia could reel her in again.

Too late.

"He never told me had a sister. Why wouldn't he tell me he had a sister?" She stopped to look at Lori. "And where the hell did you even come from? I ain't never seen you hangin' with Dally 'till last night."

"I come from New York," she said, making creepy-like spirit fingers to irritate Sylvia. It worked, too.

"God, what is _wrong_ with you?"

"There's nothin' wrong with God." She laughed. "Doesn't take a lot to get under your skin, though."

Sylvia ignored that smart comment. "You older than him?"

"Nah, younger. I'm sixteen and a penny." Lori refrained from laughing again at Sylvia's confused look. "Means I recently turned sixteen..and Dallas is, what, sixteen and three quarters? Seventeen and a nickel, maybe?"

"Would you stop talking in money terms? For Pete's sake, I'm trying to have a serious conversation here-"

At that moment, a boy, who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, poked his head in. "Your old man's lookin' for you, Syl."

Sylvia frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "What's he want now?"

"The hell should I know?" The boy rolled his eyes and disappeared back into the living room, probably to hang out with those mean looking guys with grease in their hair. Sylvia huffed and turned back to Lori.

"This ain't over."

"What ain't over?"

"_This," _she said impatiently, "Talk ain't over."

Lori rolled her eyes. "You just don't give up, do you?"

Sylvia shot her another look before leaving Lori by her lonesome. She hopped off the counter, figuring people would be in and out of the kitchen looking for food real soon.

XXX

All the random mingling and idle talk made her hate adult 'reunions' even more. Fifteen times. Fifteen times she's thought about making a break for her bedroom and locking herself away for the rest of the evening. She couldn't fathom why Aunt Rebecca even wanted her to be at this stupid gathering. All she was doing was ignoring Lori, after all. "Oh, they'll love you! You're a pretty good kid," Aunt Rebecca had cooed earlier. _Fuck that_. She was the one who was sitting on the stairs bored as hell.

Lori's eyes flicked to the back of her aunt's head. The older woman was happily yapping away with a man, her using a lot of hand motions Lori couldn't quite understand. She rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe she was actually thinking it, but she'd rather have Sylvia questioning up a storm rather than staring at the fucking flower painting on the wall.

She began to twirl her hair, a sure sign of boredom - which, in her case, was never a good sign at that. Eventually, she'd want to hop up and scream until she got the attention she wanted - no, deserved. As if sent from Heaven itself, the taller blond came back into view. Phew! Lori thought the girl would never come back. Wherever the hell she went, it was about fifteen to thirty minutes ago.

Lori sprang up from the last step and squeezed her way past adults to Sylvia. "I've been waiting a helluva long time," she said, pushing Sylvia's shoulder to turn the girl to face her.

When Sylvia did turn around, Lori was more than taken aback. There were black tears - discolored from the eyeliner - running down her cheeks and her face was tinted red. She sniffed and attempted to cover up her face, but Lori slapped her hand away.

"What happened to you?"

"I..nothing," Sylvia said slowly, as if what she said could get her into some serious trouble. "Nothing at all. Just jammed my finger in the front door."

_You're an awful liar, _Lori thought.

"You wanna head up to the bathroom? Get cleaned up, maybe?" Lori asked, trying to hint nicely that the girl looked like shit.

Through tears, Sylvia still managed to glare at her.

"Well, shit. I was just tryna help you, but fine... you wanna look like you fell in a puddle? Ain't my problem-"

"_Fine_. You made your point. Just show me where the hell I go."

XXX

Lori threw a wash towel at Sylvia's face. "There ya go." She grinned, sitting on the cabinet.

Sylvia rolled her eyes and ran the towel under the water. Lori watched as the girl hurriedly dabbed at her face, wiping away splotches of eyeliner and mascara that had dried or ran down her face.

"Lord, slow down. Any harder and you'll scrub your eye clean off." She laughed, dramatically slapping her knee.

Sylvia shot her a look. "Would you shut up?"

"Hey, who's helping who here?" Lori asked, glaring at her. "Lighten up a little. I was just fucking kiddin'."

"You "kid" around too often, and excuse me if I'm kinda sick of it."

"Really?" Lori asked, playfully nudging Sylvia with her foot. "I was always told I was too serious."

"Yeah, well, not around me you ain't." Sylvia threw the towel on the sink. "Got any eyeliner I can use?"

"You don't come prepared?"

"Obviously not today."

Lori tossed her the eyeliner that was sitting beside her thigh. "Don't fuck it up."

"How can I fuck it up in one minute?" Sylvia asked, carefully lining her eyelid.

While she did that, Lori idly swung her legs back and forth thinking about what happened in just the little time she's been in Tulsa. In just a few days she's made one friend, an enemy, re-met her older brother, probably fucked up her and her older brother's relationship even more, and was _helping_ the damn enemy. What a helluva funny way to start a vacation.

"Thanks.. for this."

_Wait, what_? "Thanks for what?"

"Helping me out?" Sylvia rolled her eyes. "What else?"

She handed Lori back her eyeliner, to which she placed on the sink again.

"Why were you crying?"

"What?" Sylvia tried to push off the subject, but Lori wasn't going to let go.

"Why were you crying earlier?" she asked slowly. "And it sure as hell ain't your "jammed" finger that caused those tears on your face."

Lori felt something weird bubble at the bottom of her stomach. She really cared. She really cared why Sylvia, proven queen bitch, was _crying_. On her first day in Tulsa, Sylvia had been so rude to her, and shit, Lori just couldn't believe she was actually considering to get on the girl's good side for once.

Sylvia fluffed up her blond hair, pursing her lips as she did so. "It ain't nothing you oughta be worrying about," she snapped. "Just leave it be."

With that, Sylvia stormed out of the bathroom and down the stairs, leaving Lori on her own - again.

XXX

It was near midnight, and Buck's was piling up with people itching to get drunk and have a good time. That's why he was there - to have a good time, get his mind off of things that, unfortunately, could only be erased for the night.

He sat at the bar chair, inattentively fiddling with his drink. He was in need of a better fucking distraction and fast.

"Dally," a voice somewhere behind him drawled. At least that's what he thought it said; it was hard to tell over the earsplitting music. He didn't turn around, though. If he was really wanted, the voice could easily approach _him_.

"Don't act like you don't hear me talking to you, Dallas!" the voice said, inching closer.

Dally saw who it was whenever she sat down next to him. Fuck. Just his luck. He came to forget everything, and she was probably wanting to drone on about Lord knows what. He ran a hand down his face, but other than catching a small glimpse of her, he didn't respond to her.

She softly shoved his shoulder. "Don't ignore me, Dally. I wanna talk. Now."

He took a swig of the drink in front of him.

"I had a talk with your _sister_ today," she said through clenched teeth.

Dally, who still was downing his drink, almost choked but luckily ended up coughing instead. Sputtering curses, he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket.

She nodded, satisfied she finally got his attention. Her red nails idly tapped against her crossed arms. Sylvia had a pretty good reason as to why she despised Lori so much. The first day she saw Lori, she knew something was up with the girl, something strange. A bad vibe, almost. Being Dally's sister wasn't what she ever expected, though. If you looked at it through her eyes, it was a little too extreme. This girl, who comes from New York, just appears in Tulsa? And she's Dally's _sister_? She doubted it was some sick joke being played on her, because, one: they looked a like, two: they have the same surname, and three: Dally's reaction just then.

XXX

"Phew. That's all of 'em," Aunt Rebecca said, closing the front door and leaning against it. The remaining ten or so people from the party had just left, and Lori stood from where she was sprawled out on the couch. Stretching, she looked around.

The house was a mess. Cards, plates, napkins, and utensils littered the floor. "Damn kids," she muttered.

Shouldn't the adults clean up after their kids? Fuck. People didn't have an ounce of common sense these days. She knew Aunt Rebecca was going to force her to clean up with her; there was nothing Lori hated more than _cleaning_.

"What was that?" Aunt Rebecca asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Huh? Oh, nothing."

"Well," she said, looking around as well. "Guess we oughta start cleanin' up, huh?"

Lori rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath. Aunt Rebecca threw a couch pillow at her.

"I saw that."

* * *

  
A/N: I'm craving chocolate cake and milk for some reason, but we don't have either. Let's brighten up Taryn's shitty Saturday with an overdose of reviews.


	8. Pitch Black

Disclaimer: I don't own the _Outsiders _or anything you may recognize. Warning: OC overload.

* * *

**Pitch Black**

**(****Two weeks later) **_June 18, 1965_

"You stayin' for the school year?" Gwen asked, absentmindedly shoving eggs around the center of her plate.

"Nope. Just for the summer, and I _told_ you that."

She sighed and idly twiddled her thumbs. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You should think about it."

To cheer up her friend, Lori silently nodded her head in agreement. There was no way she was going to stay for the school year, though. She had friends back in New York that she missed and needed to be around again. Tulsa was not her home. No matter how much she's grown to like it, and as corny as it sounded, it's not where she grew up or where she belonged.

The bells chimed over the door once again, which signaled that more people were entering Bertha's Breakfast. Apparently this was Gwen's cue to restart a new conversation.

"My brother's visiting in two days. Probably sometime around noon."

Lori swallowed a gulp of her Pepsi, no longer tasting the fizzy tingle in her throat but something dull and watery."That a good thing?"

"Are you kidding?" Gwen asked, perking up a bit. "It's a great thing, and I want you to meet 'im!"

She looked up from picking at her toast."You want _me_ to meet him?"

Of course this came as a shock to Lori. She wouldn't even consider herself that much of an interesting person but more of a pessimistic, apathetic one. She also thought that Gwen would want to spend some alone time with her brother, what with the fact that he lives with his old man, she lives with her mother, and the two hardly ever see each other. At least that's what Lori would want if she were in the position.

Gwen looked taken aback. "Well, yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"Why would he wanna' meet me?"

She laughed, which caused Lori to raise an eyebrow. "I think I missed the joke."

Gwen snorted and grinned. "Sorry. But why wouldn't he wanna' meet you?" She fiddled with her folded napkin. "You're my friend. Lee almost always likes my friends. Don't worry, though, 'cause that's less than often."

"Um, okay?" That didn't make Lori feel any better. "You said and I quote, 'almost always', so what if I'm that few _almost _instead of the more always?"

It took a minute for Gwen to reply, for she had to let what Lori said sink in. "Lee will like you. I promise. Now shut up before you get worry lines." For emphasis, Gwen tapped Lori's forehead with her fingers (to which Lori swatted away) and grinned.

XXX

"It's dark in here."

"I didn't notice."

"You didn't notice it was dark in here? Golly, you should see a doctor for that or somethin'-"

"Gwen?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Okay."

Lori stumbled, tripped twice, and ran into the edge of a desk before flicking on the light switch. The light didn't do much for the pitch black room, but at least they wouldn't be tripping over dust bunnies and shit. She contemplated her surroundings. There were books, rocking chairs, old wood, a couch cushion, broken records, all kinds of stuff scattered about the basement.

Lori stepped over an old, abandoned teddy bear that was missing an ear. "God. Y'all ever clean down here? I mean, shit... it's like a storm ripped through or somethin'."

"Thought it was pretty obvious that we don't." Gwen laughed but was silenced by Lori's glare.

"Let's just get this over with, huh?" Lori said, finally spotting the mattress in the corner.

"Ay, ay, cap'n." Gwen saluted and stepped over various items to where Lori was standing. "Ahoy! The booty has been spotted-"

"Gwen!" Lori yelled out of frustration. "Knock it off and hold up the other side, will ya?"

Gwen hoisted up the right side of the mattress, while Lori did the same to the left. The two slowly and carefully moved towards the stairs and set the mattress down, just so their arms wouldn't unexpectedly give out while going back up.

"What now?" Gwen asked, stretching her arms behind her head.

Lori extended her arms back and forth as well. "I'll go first, alright? We can set it down if we need to."

Before Gwen could argue about who went first, Lori cut her off, "I'll be okay - quit your worryin'. 'Sides, it ain't even that many stairs. Quicker we go, quicker we get done."

Gwen's brow creased, a foreign look for the older girl. "Can you blame me for not wantin' you to hurt yourself? Slow and steady and I'll let you go first. Deal?"

Lori muttered something incoherent and then nodded. On the count of three, the mattress were in their arms again. Lori twisted so she was in the front, her back facing the door out, and so Gwen was facing the correct way.

"Slow down." Gwen gasped, "You're goin' too fast, slow down!"

"I ain't even started!" Lori argued, frowning.

She couldn't see it, but Lori guessed Gwen was grinning about now. "Just practicing is all! Sheesh. You ain't gotta have a cow, Lor."

"Gwendolyn, if you don't stop playing, we ain't ever gonna get out of this shithole."

"Joy killer," she mumbled. Lori ignored that. The two, once again, lifted the mattress and started up the narrow stairs. Lori, to say the least, was surprised that the thick mattress could even fit in such tiny space. The space was so limited that she felt like she barely had enough room to breathe. Her palms started getting sweaty, and her scrawny arms could only take so much weight. Worst of all, at the turtle-like pace they were moving, they still had a somewhat long way to go.

She silently cursed the Warrens family for even putting the mattress in the basement, and even Gwen's mom for making them go out and fetch the fucking thing. If Lee were to visit at anytime, wouldn't it make much more sense to have a bedroom already set up for the boy? Glory, would it have saved them a lot of the trouble, too.

"My arm," Lori managed to gasp out. In all her small ranting, she hadn't been paying much attention to her arm or her footing. Gwen heard her strained voice and stopped moving.

"What is it?"

"Set it down, set it down," she panted. "It's slipping!"

"Jesus," Gwen mumbled, setting the mattress down with a loud _thud!_ and said, "You all right, kid?"

Lori set down her side and examined her hands. There were marks from the mattress that turned her skin red, and her hands were moist with sweat. She hurriedly wiped her hands on her skirt, because she didn't want Gwen holding any more of her weight on the mattress to keep it from sliding down the stairs.

"You okay?" Gwen repeated. Lori still couldn't see her face, but she could tell her friend was frowning again.

"Yeah. Hands were gettin' pretty slippery. I'm okay now. On three?"

Gwen sighed. "One... two... three!"

They hauled it up and moved up again.

And then it happened.

Lori suddenly moved up a stair too fast, causing Gwen, who was on the other end and wasn't expecting it, to lose her footing and trip. In that split second, the mattress flew out of Gwen's arms and forcefully pushed into a shocked Lori's chest, nearly knocking the wind out of the blond. Lori quickly tried to regain her balance by holding onto the railing, but her arms didn't shoot out until it was too late. She could feel her back hit first; it collided with the next step, and then her head hit the next step after that with a sickening crack.

Gwen yelped and moved out of the way of the now tumbling mattress. That was all she heard or saw before her vision blurred, then she was engulfed in that stupid pitch blackness - again.

XXX

"I must warn you," Doctor Kingsman said, jotting down something on his clipboard. "She's not all there, or at least not quite."

Gwen hopped up from her chair, about ready to start in on the doctor that had them waiting clueless for hours. "What in the world is that supposed to mean?"

Doctor Kingsman raised a dark eyebrow, then turned his attention towards her. "The force of the fall caused some bruising on the brain, triggering the loss of memory. But not to worry; her memory will return on it's own. Just don't force it."

He then looked back at Lori's aunt. "The mid back should be sore for a couple of days, a week or two tops. Nothing too serious. We will set up a date for you to come back so we can remove the stitches.."

Gwen tuned out the rest of his voice, and she watched Rebecca and Doctor Kingsman's retrieving backs.

It was real hard to take in. A friend, that she's recently grown closer to, wouldn't even remember her when she woke up. It set an ache and an ounce of guilt in Gwen's chest.

If she would've ignored Lori's protests about who would've gone up first, the younger girl wouldn't even be in the situation she was now. Gwen would've taken her time, because slow and steady was _always_ the key. Apparently going fast lands you in a fucking hospital with memory loss. She scoffed bitterly.

If it weren't for that damned mattress...

Her head fell into her hands, and she quietly sighed. _I'm so sorry._

XXX

To put it simply, everything stung like a bitch. Funny thing was, she didn't know why.

Her head felt ten times it's normal size, and her back felt like tons of hot rocks were piled on top of it. Save for her legs and fingers, she could hardly even move. She doesn't even remember doing anything to gain such pain in the first place. It was almost as if it appeared out of nowhere.

To add more to her suspicion, earlier she felt fingers poking and prodding along side her arm, back, and especially beneath her head. The beeping, murmuring voices, orders, were all things that caught her attention too.

She opened her mouth and let out a shaky breath. Placing her hands on the first flat surface that she touched, she tried pushing herself up, only to have her arms shake something fierce and give out.

"Woah there," a surprised voice said. "Take it easy, honey. Lay back down. Lay down, okay? I'll get the nurse." Clicking heels eventually faded out, leaving her in an eerie silence.

Lori's eyes flicked open for the first time. "Nurse," she breathed.

That would explain the annoying beeping sounds, the orders, and the poking fingers. She was in a damn hospital bed.

* * *

A/N: Was this too dramatic? Was it sorta confusing? What do you think about Gwen? Let me know in your review, please.

I'm on spring break! Yes, today was the last day and I finally get a friggin' week off. The down side? I'll be without internet and on the road tomorrow, and my 'rents won't even tell me where the hell they're taking us. So, I will try my best to write and finish the next chapter tonight and update it **very **soon.


	9. The Journal

Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders or anything else you may recognize.

* * *

A/N: Instead of writing in past-tense, I'm gonna give present-tense a shot. Anyway, if you catch me writing in both ways, my apologies (sheepish grin ;P). It's gonna take me a while to get used to it.

* * *

**The Journal  
**_Tulsa, Oklahoma. June 18, 1965._

* * *

"I'm Gwen," the tall brunette says slowly. With her oval shaped head, curly hair, and pink cheeks, she instantly reminds Lori of one of those porcelain dolls. The cat-like green eyes is what really catches her attention, though. They're filled with concern and guilt - maybe even a hint of sadness.

An older woman, who is in the corner, steps to the side of the bed next to Gwen. "Uh...you're my niece, and you've been staying with me for the past few weeks. Aunt Rebecca, you call me," she speaks, swallowing hard. A hand immediately shoots to her already red eyes and wipes away the tears. The woman sniffs and quickly pulls herself back together with an apology.

Lori stares at them blankly. The two people really didn't ring a bell. Even the names were completely foreign. Strangers is what they were; she'd never seen or heard of them until then. It really didn't make any sense that they were claiming that she knew them. She'd think she'd remember her own flesh and blood.

_Niece_. She bites back a scoff, and her eyes flick around the bare, white room.

"Oh," Lori softly drawls; her head slightly tilts to the right. "That's...nice, I s'pose."

She picks at the sheets, and moves her legs beneath the covers to get more comfortable. The two strangers stare at her as if she were a chicken with it's head cut off; Lori laughs out loud at this analogy which doesn't help the weird looks at all.

The tall girl actually looks pretty offended. "That it? You 'suppose' it's nice, huh?"

Lori shrugs and grins stupidly. "Well, yeah? No? I dunno?" She bites her lip. "I want my hair.. I want it your color. I don't know why."

Aunt Rebecca shoots a look at Gwen, her dark eyes sending a hidden message Lori couldn't decipher even if she tried.

Gwen clears her throat and takes in a lungful of air, "You'll be outta here 'fore you know it and back into your own bed." She tries to grin but fails miserably. If Lori would've blinked, she could have easily missed the slight nose flare by Gwen.

"Why so angry... Gwen, you said?" Lori says. "Yeah, I think it's Gwen. Right?"

Light footsteps enter the room, cutting off whatever Gwen was about to say.

Nurse Edith, as she's said to call her earlier, gave the two strangers a sympathetic smile and then politely asked them to leave because Lori needed her rest.

"Nurse Edith," Lori sings and gives her a tiny wave.

The old nurse grins in return and leans over to check the bandages tangled in Lori's matted hair. "Afternoon. Head feeling any better? Anything hurt?"

She rubs her forehead and yawns. "Nah. Not right now Nurse Edith."

XXX

_June 20, 1965._

Her feet dangles off the edge of the bed as she stares at the doorway. Aunt Rebecca is supposed to be checking her out; she'd left about five or ten minutes ago. Lori's just happy that she was finally being let out of the boring, unappealing, white room. Staring at the ceiling and lying useless in bed for nearly two days isn't exactly her idea of eventful. The hospital seriously needs to add some color and posters or something, because the off-white everywhere just wasn't doing it and was also _not_ her first pick in gown colors.

She lets out a shaky breath, and out of curiosity, her hand trails up to the nape of her neck and up her hair where the bandage is. She can't exactly see what it looks like, but she imagines it to be some ugly, over-sized white tape that stuck out like a sore thumb. She is sure that her head will itch like for the next few days, what with those stiches underneath there. Or, maybe it won't itch, but she sure will be tempted to touch it every now and then.

On the bright side, her back doesn't hurt like hell anymore - a sting here and there - but at least it isn't as bad as the first day, which she is really grateful for.

A knock came at the door. "Ready to go?"

"Sure!" Lori smiles and slowly hops off the bed. She stretches and grabs her flowers (courtesy of Gwen and her mom) before walking over to meet Aunt Rebecca. The older woman looks down at her with concern, but then she seemed to have quickly shrugged that feeling away.

"Okay then," Aunt Rebecca says. "I just have to make a quick stop at the drugstore before we head home. That okay?"

Lori looks at the exit door and shifts on her feet. She shrugs. "Sounds pretty sweet! I can ride in the front, right?"

"Right..." Aunt Rebecca stares at her, and the concern immediately comes back.

XXX

A voice calls up from the bottom of the stairs, "You okay, L? Do you need anything?"

_I thought my name was Lori_. She squints in confusion but sings back anyway, "I'm fine Auntie Rebeccaaa!"

_Day one_, she writes at the top of her already tattered notebook page. Aunt Rebecca suggested she writes about her encounters and experiences with this post-traumatic amnesia thing. Something about good exercise for her brain. Lori thinks it's a waste of time and that the lady is crazy weird, but oh no, Aunt Rebecca insists. She says as the days go by, that Lori will slowly regain her memories and will be able to identify the two kids in the picture she's found in her dresser drawer earlier.

The curiosity had coursed through her body, and she agreed to write in the thing. She found it weird that the crazy lady wouldn't just inform her instead of making her figure it out herself.

She frowns and then tries to think of something to write.

The tip of her pencil finally brakes off from the hard grip she has on it. She groans and throws the pencil against the wall; it lands right next to two others. She hasn't even written more than the date and "day one" at the top and the damned pencil lead keeps breaking in two.

Almost reluctantly, Lori snatches up the last pencil that's sitting on her blanket and begins to write carefully this time.

_June 20 - Day one._

_I really see no point in writing in this journal, but my auntie thinks this will be good for the processing of my stupid forgetful brain. Apparently I was in some sort of freak accident that landed me in a hospital bed with hardly any past memories. I mean, one day, I just wake up not knowing who I am or where I'm even at. At least that's what Auntie tells me. Pretty darn nifty, huh?_

_At the hospital, I meet this girl named Gwen. I think I offended her by not recognizing her face, because she looked near hurt when she left the room. She didn't come back for the rest of the day, and I think that it was my fault. But she did come back the next day, shoving pretty flowers and a card in my hand and said it was from her and her mama. She went on about her brother, who I was supposedly was to meet, and that was the last I saw of her._

_I'm "home" today, as my auntie explained that she was, in fact, not my ma and that I was just staying for the summer. I have a feeling the days will just get weirder._

She sets the pencil down and proudly looks at the short paragraphs. A grin makes way to her face; a couple sentences was all it took. There was never really a set minimum number of words that she had to complete anyway.

XXX

For the first time in a couple days, he finally spots her - not that he was looking for her, though. He's a little surprised that she doesn't even glance at him, when usually she would just waltz up to him and start some conversation he didn't want to have. He shrugged it off; it was probably because the guys, people she didn't know, were sitting in the same booth as him and were happily chatting away about girls and cars.

In the corner of his eye, he sees that she and a lady of about thirty sit in the booth diagonal from where him and the gang are sitting. As if she feels his eyes on her, she looks at him while his eyes narrow in return. She quickly breaks the eye contact by talking to that lady.

Next to him, Johnny pipes up, "What's up, Dal?"

"What?" Dally looks to his left. "Oh, uh, Johnny. Nothing, man."

Johnny doesn't believe him for a second, but he nods anyway and picks up his glass of soda.

Dallas fiddles with the ring on his forefinger and tunes out the gang's laughter.

XXX

He glares and she looks away, stunned beyond words. Lori tries to shake off the mean look by starting up a conversation.

"So..." Lori looks around the crowded place. "This is the Dingo, huh?" Despite the big sign in the front, she asks anyway. It's the only thing she can think of, and she doesn't even blame her aunt for looking at her like she was pretty darn stupid just then.

"Yes, this is the Dingo. I usually don't come here because it's always too crowded and full of kids, but..." She shrugs.

Lori nods slowly but is unsure of what to say.

As is of on cue, a waitress with tired eyes comes up to them with pad and pencil in hand. "What can I get you?" she asks in a flat yet raspy tone. Her blonde-grey hair is matted and her forehead is beaded with sweat; Lori feels somewhat sympathetic for the older woman and disgusted at the same time.

Aunt Rebecca doesn't seem to mind and gives her their order.

XXX

"I need air," she says so abruptly that her aunt raises both eyebrows. "Can I go? Please, Auntie, please," she adds with a tiny pout. Lori thinks about what she's just said and almost shakes her head in annoyance. _I need air...really? _It sure sounded much better when she didn't think about it.

Aunt Rebecca contemplates the idea and sighs. "Don't wander off anywhere, you hear? I don't need to find you lost in an alley. Just outside the doors," she offers.

Lori rolls her eyes, but she's grinning, "I hear you, Aunt Becky."

She takes another sip of her Coke before sliding out of the booth and outside the Dingo's front doors. She squints at the sky and notices how fast time has passed since she's first sat down in the booth. It's dark enough to see the stars now. She eyes the Polaris star which stands out among the rest.

Hardly two steps away from the door, a catcall shakes her from her reverie. Stupidly, she walks to where the noise comes from; to her left, there's two tough-looking boys leaning against the brick wall of the Dingo eyeing her.

A blond, his hair slicked back with too much pomade, speaks first. "What's your name?"

"What's _your _name?" Lori asks, frowning. "You're the one who called me over here. Why d'you wanna know?"

He mumbles something, "smart ass", and then beckons her closer. She walks over, close enough to smell the smoke from his leather jacket. Out of reflex from the smell, she backs up only to ram into the chest of the guy behind her.

"Watch it," the guy behind her growls.

"Did you seriously just growl at me?" Lori asks, whirling around to face the boy. He has a scar running from his left eyebrow to his jaw that creeps her out a little. "What? Do you speak to your ma with that mouth, too?"

Scarface looks at his buddy. He motions to Lori. "What the fuck?"

The scrawny blond boy shrugs, and his eyes flick to her.

"Chick's got a mouth on her," Scarface mumbles under his breath.

"Eyes and a nose, too, buddy," Lori huffs, and her hands move to her hips. "That a problem?"

Blond boy fidgets but makes no effort to calm his now fuming friend.

Lori starts off slowly, "Y'know, you should do society a favor and learn some manners. Maybe even how to treat a girl while you're at it. Jerk."

Scarface harshly grabs her by the upper arm and leans down to her eye level. "Listen, honey," he whispers, his hot breath tickling her skin, "I don't care who the hell you are, but don't nobody 'round here'll talk-"

"I'm sorry...am I interrupting something here fellas?"

Blond boy squints. "Dally Winston," he tells his buddy, and Scarface's hand slowly drops to his side.

Lori's eyes widen and she rubs her arm; she's sure that there will be a hand mark there if she actually looks.

Dally, she easily guesses, walks over to them. "There some reason you boys pickin' on a broad half your size?"

Lori notices his friends from the booth goofing around not too far away but ready to back him up if need be; it calms her down a little, because she isn't one for unfair fights - especially if it's unfair to the one who's helping her.

With ease, Dally's hand takes hold of her wrist and protectively pulls her behind him.

"We don't want no trouble here, Winston," Blond boy speaks, raising his hands as a sign of peace and leans against the wall again. He pulls out a carton of cigarettes and lights two; one for him, the other for Scarface. She gets the feelings he's only backing down because him and Scarface are out-numbered.

Dally rolls his eyes, and his grip on her wrist tightens. He's pissed, and it looks like he wants to get a hit in; Lori can see the slight flare of his nose every now and then.

"'Course you don't," he says and drags Lori away from the two boys.

She finally builds up the courage to snatch her wrist away, but the motion surprisingly leaves Dally unfazed.

"What'd I tell you about going out and walking alone?"

_What's he going on about? He's never said that to me before. For Pete's sake, I don't even know him._"I'm not alone..."

He looks around and rolls his eyes again. "Sure looks like it to me."

"Listen. Thanks for saving me back there, but I don't need you telling me what to do. Okay?" Lori raises an eyebrow. "Bye."

He stops her by holding out his arm. "If you'd listen, then you wouldn't have to deal with shit like that." His head nods to the two boys smoking by the wall.

She glares at him. "For your information, I walked over there myself." She attempts to walk away, but his arm shoots out to stop her. Again.

"Why would you do that?" he asks. "That's just fucking asking for it."

She scoffs and now she's the one rolling her eyes. "God. What's your friggin' problem? I don't even know you."

A look of confusion clouds his eyes for a second. "The hell do you mean you don't know me?"

"The words were pretty self-explanatory. Figure it out, stupid." She runs back into the Dingo before he can even open his mouth.

XXX

"Where were you? What took you so long?" Aunt Rebecca bombards her with questions before she even has the chance to sit down.

Lori waves her off. "I was outside," she states the obvious. "Oh, and I was watching the stars! I saw the Polaris one, by the way. Really pretty! Did you know it's two stars farthest from the handle of the Big Dipper?"

Aunt Rebecca nods slowly at Lori's sudden enthusiasm. She know's her niece will be going through a few changes, what with the amnesia, but she sure hopes the girl gets her head back _real soon_. It's strange seeing her act all excited and...kid-ish most of the time.

"... and I'm really sleepy. Can we go?"

Aunt Rebecca gives her a small smile and nods.

_Real soon.

* * *

_

A/N: Bah. Don't really like this chapter, but at least we get to finally see Dally. Plus, it was really, really long. And Kudos to those who may've caught the sudden character attitude change (if you didn't, no Oreos for you) in Lori. **_REVIEW! _**

Rant: FF is pissing me off. I had to re-write most of this chapter, like, seven fucking times just because it kept erasing words and not saving it. (No, I do not write on Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, etc. I write on here, so it was all the more difficult.) So, I got too lazy on trying to fix the damn thing and let it be. This chapter was orig. supposed to be published Thursday or Friday. I wonder if it's just my computer, but then again, it's never done this before. Okay, I'm done ranting.


	10. Thinking and Solving

A/N: I don't own _The Outsiders_.

* * *

**Thinking and Solving**

_Tulsa - June 19, 1965_

Throwing back a pill, Dally set the glass of water on the nightstand and clumsily fell onto the bed.

He'd been trying to avoid thinking about the short conversation with Lori, how she just flat out denied ever knowing him. The blank look on her face was enough to prove that she was serious, but something just didn't add up. He'd last seen her about two weeks ago, and now she's suddenly claiming him to be a goddamn stranger?

Maybe she was joking with him, pulling his leg. When they were kids, she used to take advantage of him being gullible, so it's not like it wasn't...

His hands lazily dragged over his face, and he wondered why he was even getting worked up about it. It's not like he wanted anything to do with her, and even if he did - which he didn't - what would he be able to do about it?

A loud rapping came at the door, and Dally groaned, not wanting to deal with anything or anyone anymore.

"Dallas," Sylvia said, knocking on the door again. "I know you're in there. Open the door."

Cursing under his breath, he silently begged that she'd just shut up and go away and leave him to drown in his thoughts alone.

* * *

Lori glanced at the clock and raised an eyebrow. "You running late?"

Aunt Rebecca scurried back into the kitchen, grabbing her papers off the counter. "Have you seen my car keys? I just had them-"

"It's in your hand."

The woman looked at the keys clutched tightly into her palm. "Oh."

Lori rolled her eyes. "Late," she reminded her.

"Oh, right!" Aunt Rebecca raked a hand through her dark hair, looking around the small space to see if she'd forgotten anything. She walked at a fast pace to the front door and called out over her shoulder, "I'll see ya later, kiddo, and Gwen will be here soon."

"Yeah, see you. You'll do great," she assured.

"Thank you!" It was faint, but Lori still heard it. She watched as the Ford peeled out of the driveway and sped down the street, her aunt both eager and excited to get to that job she's been going on about. Something about a column or assistance for a children's book - she didn't remember which.

Falling back onto the couch, she silently begged that the tingle in her head would just go away. Ever since her little tumble, strange dreams and flashbacks and thoughts always occurred. She just wanted everything to go back to normal. _Whatever normal was before I forgot, that is_, she thought to herself.

She unballed her clenched fists, letting out a steadying breath.

* * *

"_About_ time."

"'Scuse me?" Gwen asked, shutting the door and tossing the spare key on the coffee table.

"It's about time you got here," Lori clarified, cocking an eyebrow. "It ain't exactly all fun and games here. I've been watching TV for _hours_."

Gwen frowned. "Oh. Then, you wanna' go somewhere?"

Lori stood and turned off the TV. "Where?"

"The Dingo? I'm starvin'."

* * *

The Dingo mainly consisted of immature teenagers and junior high kids. Some blowing straws at each other, others cracking up and shoving playfully. It was like watching a circus.

"It always this crowded in here?" Lori asked with observing eyes.

Gwen sighed, shrugging. "Sometimes. Guess it really depends. Oh..." Her face suddenly lit up, and Lori followed her eyes. Behind her, an attractive guy was on his way over. Blond hair, green eyes, and a nice build. He looked older than them - maybe in his early twenties. She didn't miss that he and Gwen shared some of the same features.

"Who's he?"

"Oh, right. You haven't met him yet," Gwen stated the obvious. "That's my older brother, Lee. You'll-"

He slid into the booth before she could finish, throwing a small smile in Lori's direction and then nudging his sister.

She elbowed him back. "Lee, this is my friend - the one I told you about. Lori Winston, remember?"

Lee looked at Lori, his green eyes staring into her blue ones. Feeling somewhat intimidated by his gaze, she was about to look away when he spoke up, a small smirk on his lips. "Yeah, I remember. Pleasure to meet you, honey."

He raised an eyebrow when she just nodded.

Noticing, she threw in an awkward response. "Yeah ... it's real nice to meet you, too."

She swore under her breath. Had she'd always been this shy when introduced to someone new, or was it just because he was a total hunk and he made her nervous? Either way, she hated being the cause of the awkward silence.

"Well ..." Gwen trailed off, prying Lee's fingers off her Coke that he had slyly taken at some point.

Lori tucked a fallen hair behind her ear. "Well, I think I should get goin' now..."

Two sets of green eyes immediately looked her way.

The corner of Lee's mouth upturned. "So soon?"

Gwen was smiling now. "We don't bite. Or, I don't, at least. Stay a little longer?"

She nodded, letting out a small sigh. "Okay."

* * *

Dally rolled his eyes, throwing the football back and forth in his hands. "You're full of shit."

Two-Bit just waved him off and grinned. "_Oh_, stop it. You're makin' me blush."

They were waiting for the rest of the guys to show up for a game in the park, but a wait of five minutes quickly turned into fifteen. _Jesus, even the storm's gonna' beat them if they don't hurry up_, Dally observed as he looked at the sky to find the sun being overshadowed by gray clouds.

"There," Two-Bit suddenly said, pointing to the arriving. "Slower than molasses in January, they are."

* * *

Lee had bailed with his friends ten minutes before, so her and Gwen had decided to take a stroll through the park. They talked about a whole lot of nothing, until something caught Lori's eye.

"There's that guy again," Lori mumbled, eyeing the blond haired boy who was tossing around a football.

"What guy?" Gwen asked, nearly scaring the crap out of Lori. She forgot her friend was centimeters behind her.

"_Him._" Lori pointed, but Gwen slapped her hand down, throwing her a disapproving glance.

"Don't point. It's rude. Not to mention you'll attract attention, and ... too late."

Lori cocked her head to the right, watching as the group of boys slowly diverted their attention from the football to them. "Hey, look, it's that hunk from the DX," she said thoughtfully.

Gwen's eyes looked like they were going to fall out of their sockets. "You remember that?"

"What was his name?"

The brunette grinned, looking dreamily at the boy. "Sodapop Curtis."

Lori nodded, and they walked again, picking back up on their previous conversation. "So, you know that boy I pointed to? Why does he seem so ... I dunno, familiar?"

She could've sworn she knew him, and he obviously knew her by the way he acted so protective when she was with Aunt Rebecca yesterday night. His face just brought back broken memories, and it made her all the more curious to find out who he was and why he was so important.

Gwen had this funny look on her face. "_That_ is Dallas Winston - a mean hood known for breaking the law. Oh, and congratulations." She punched Lori's shoulder. "He's your brother."

"What the ..." Lori trailed off with a blank look on her face. "No," she said, disbelief evident in her voice. She looked back at the football game, which had resumed while they were talking.

"_Yeah_." Gwen was laughing now, obviously enjoying the blonde's reaction.

Lori picked up the pace, a few of the young kids starting to look their way. "I don't believe it. I'd...I'd know..."

"Ask your aunt."

* * *

Her legs were crossed, and her hands held up her chin as she leaned forward on the kitchen table. "I have a brother," she said, rather than asked.

"Yes," Aunt Rebecca answered, opening the oven to check on her cookies. On upon discovering they weren't done, she closed it again.

Rolling her eyes, Lori sat up straight. "And you didn't tell me."

Thinking it through since she'd gotten home, she didn't understand how her aunt didn't mention it not even once. If Dallas really was her brother, that seemed like a real important fact to have brought up in a conversation.

The older woman turned around, facing the blonde. A look of stress etched across her features, and her lips pursed. "It slipped my mind that you would've forgotten. I —"

"And he's not staying here ... why?"

Aunt Rebecca eyed her. "What do you mean?"

"You said I'm staying here for the summer, right?" Lori pondered aloud, more and more questions rapidly starting to build. "So, why isn't he? Where does he stay? Why would he —"

"One question at a time," the older woman interrupted. "Dallas stays with my brother—er, your father, Ted, just a couple streets down. He lives in Tulsa; you don't. All questions answered? Good, get to bed. I have an important business call to make."

"Wha—Fine."

* * *

The black and white photo of two kids stared up at her, and her fingers suddenly itched. She didn't know what she planned on doing, but she wasn't just going to brush everything off.

_Just a couple streets down..._

Gwen and her were certainly in for a busy day tomorrow.

* * *

A/N: I'm quickly doing this before I leave for work, so point out any mistakes.

_(On with the rambling!)_

It's been about three months; I'm horrible - I know. I've had a bad case of writer's block, and I wasn't very happy with this chapter. So, that being said, please review and give me an honest opinon on whether I should continue this story or not. I honestly don't like the path I chose, and I'm really tempted to delete or rewrite it...


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